<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Colonized by Neptune by FireflySummerwynd</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458570">Colonized by Neptune</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd'>FireflySummerwynd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Poison (US Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Paganism, Planets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:28:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>55,305</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458570</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Robbed of all their males old enough to mate and sick of the extreme cold and ridiculously high Winds, the women of the Planet Neptune start a search for a new placeta live. After all, they've no other choices except letting their race die out altogether, which they definitely aren't willing to do.</p>
<p>Overshooting the Planet they Intended to land on and colonize, the only surviving pair of Neptunian women're recused by an unlikely pair. Can they swipe enough Intel from these men–and their sperm–to survive and build that colony, or are they better off wading back into the Sea to drown?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The craft that was soon to depart in search of a better World to inhabit was near full to bursting already, and it was only at half capacity. Many who called the Planet known as Neptune home were desperate to find somewhere that wasn’t nearly as Windy to call home. After all, their average Wind speed as per the human measurement <em>miles per hour</em> was seven hundred, but there were Times that they could clock in at twelve hundred–miles per hour, that is. Course, even that didn’t top Pluto’s ridiculously insane average Wind speed of over a million miles per hour, but there were several other factorsta consider when comparing them.</p>
<p>    Naturally, those Intent on finding another Planet to call home were terrified to the point of shaking in their boots, but they didn’t have any other choices. If they didn’t find a new home Planet, their race of humanoid beings weren’t gonna last for much longer–that’d become painfully obvious in recent Times. The Wind speeds on Neptune were simply too high, which’d resulted in the Deaths of pretty much all their reproductive-age males. Course, trying to keep beings of any age warm on a Planet that was colder than even Jupiter was no easy feat and only added to their dwindling numbers. If those weren’t good enough reasons for a race of beingsta find somewhere elseta live–well, the race in question here’d never heard a better one.</p>
<p>    Settling into her seat upon boarding the Space-bound craft, the young female known as Neptunian 0634 didn’t bother removing her warmer layers just yet. It’d take a while for the artificial heat of the spacecraft to start seeping into her, let alone actually do it, and she Intended to help that process along any way she could. From the looks of things, so did her younger sister, who settled in her own assigned seat to her left in her own warmer layers.</p>
<p>    Neptunian 0672, as she was known amongst their people, shot her older sister a dazzling smile that woulda been attractive to any reproductive-age male. It was an expression that was Returned by the older of the sisters, who kept an ear on their immediate surroundings. What amounted to a human flight attendant’d be coming around to check on them and let them know when they’d be taking off soon. Once that attendant came out from wherever she was hiding, they’d find out where they were most likely to be going. As long as it was warmer than their home Planet–not to mention far less Windy–neither of the sisters really cared where they wound up. Well, that was with the exception of Planets like the ones they were told got called Venus and Jupiter, considering the crushing gravity that’d kill them quicker than their home Planet’s Winds.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t long before the attendant came outta her hidey-hole, quickly informing the craft’s passengers that they were headed for the only red-looking Planet in this Solar system. It was known as Mars, and even though it could hit an average low of two-twenty-five below, it didn’t always get anywhere near that cold. In fact, it could get as warm as seventy degrees Farenheit, just like its next-door neighbor–which was known as Earth.</p>
<p>    All this pair of sisters cared about was that wherever they wound up was warmer than the neighborhood of three-seventy-five to four hundred below, less Windy, and had plenty of males ready to mate.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>April, 1986 </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>    Los Angeles, California </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The up-and-coming band known as Poison were making their last-minute checksta the bags they’d already packed recently. About to head out on their first serious tour after recording their debut album in a record eight Days, none of them wanted to forget anything. Obviously, their gear and rubbers topped each of their lists, but they’d need other ways of entertaining themselves when cooped up on their tour bus. Things like their address books for telephone numbers they didn’t call often enough to memorize were a must-have since they may not recall even frequently-dialed numbers once they were drunk enough.</p>
<p>    Having double-checked their bags, the quartet of men who made up the band settled into the lil Beach house they’d rented for their last lil bit of rest and relaxation before their tour. Twenty-five-Year-old drummer Rikki Rockett was content to chill in the hammock strung between two Palm Trees in the Sand. For a man supposedly ruled by a Fire sign, he sure loved being around pretty much any body of Water, similar to twenty-two-Year-old bassist Bobby Dall. Not even twenty-three-Year-old front man Bret Michaels enjoyed the Water as much as his rhythm section, and he was a Pisces. Twenty-four-Year-old guitarist CC DeVille certainly wasn’t one to like the Water since he was ruled by an Earth sign, but acted like he shoulda been ruled by Air or Fire.</p>
<p>    True to loving the Water as only a Water sign and personality could, Bobby was settled near the Water line, where the Waves could break over his toes. He was close enough that he and the drummer–who was also the tallest blonde in his band–could hold a conversation if they wanted, but not close enough to encroach on each other’s personal Space.</p>
<p>    Looking out over the Pacific as he nursed his beer and killed off yet another smoke, the baby of this band couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips. He might miss the sight of Sunrise over the Atlantic, but he’d take even seeing the Sunset over its Western equivalent. There’d eventually be a Time that he got to go back home–to his hometown of Miami, Florida–and see the sight he loved more once again. Besides, he’d made the decision to come out West, so he knew he’d no one to blame for his home sickness but himself.</p>
<p>    “Ya ready for our first big tour, dude?”</p>
<p>    Looking over when he heard his friend’s voice, Bobby continued smiling. “I think it’s kinda like having a kid, man–are we <em>really</em> ready for it, or do we just <em>think</em> we are?”</p>
<p>    “Fair point,” the drummer agreed, nodding as he sat up so one leg hung over the side of the hammock.</p>
<p>    “I mean, ya said it yourself–it’s our first big tour,” he said. “I’m sure it’s not gonna be anything like just running the clubs like we’ve been doing the past couple Years.”</p>
<p>    “Oh, no doubt it’s gonna be a lot more grueling than just a couple weeks of <em>that</em> here and there,” Rikki admitted. “God knows there’s no coming home early without quitting the band altogether.”</p>
<p>    “Ain’t that the damn Truth?” the bassist chuckled.</p>
<p>    “And I dunno about you, but I’ve put too much work into this band just to quit ’cuz the tour turned out to be harder than I’d thought it was gonna be,” he said.</p>
<p>    “I think we’ve all put too much blood, sweat, and tears into this band just to do that,” the bassist laughed as he flicked his cigarette butt into the Ocean.</p>
<p>    Neither of them got a chanceta say anything else before an odd Sound caught both their attention, making them both look around. The last place they looked was up, only to see what looked like a ball of Fire over their heads and seemingly heading straight toward them. Both simply reacted by scrambling back toward the Beach house their band had rented, offering up prayersta their choice God as it got closer.</p>
<p>    With a mighty splash that sent a mini-Tsunami onto the Beach they’d just been sitting on a few hundred feet away, the ball of Fire quickly went out. It sent up a plume of steam that was easily twice as big, which bespoke just how hot it’d been as it came in for its crash-landing. No doubt it was several hundred degrees hotter than the Ocean Water it’d just crash-landed in, or it wouldn’t have sent up any steam at all. They’d no idea what they’d just witnessed, but they knew one thing–it’d no doubt have to be reported to the authorities soon. Course, one of the folks who lived near the house they were renting for the week was prolly already on that particular task.</p>
<p>    Once the steam’d drifted away so they could see clearly, Bobby and Rikki were surprised to see what almost looked like a small airplane. Then again, maybe it was a Satellite that’d been knocked outta orbit and come crashing down through the atmosphere. Such a thing was rare, but it still occasionally happened–it was the crash-landing so closeta Shore that was far more rare than just a Satellite coming down. But something about this particular crash-landing just felt <em>off</em> to both guys, even though they couldn’t have said why.</p>
<p>    Seeing a pair of heads pop above the Surface moments after the steam cleared jump-started both of them like a hot cattle prod to their asses. Clearly, this was no Satellite that’d gotten knocked outta orbit, although it no longer seemed quite like a crashed airplane. Whatever it was, it was some kinda passenger craft–and the passengers it’d been carrying were now at risk of drowning. Being weighed down by what almost looked like heavy fur coats–which they seemed to be trying to fight their way outta–was only gonna increase the chances of that happening. Only a Silent nod to each other preceded the pair of musicians running back to the Water, where they waded in as far as they could before diving in.</p>
<p>    “Don’t worry–I’ve gotcha,” the bassist said, grabbing the closer of the pair.</p>
<p>    What he now realized was a woman tried to fight him, but he managed to maintain his grip as he turned to head back to Shore.</p>
<p>    “Ya got that one?” Rikki yelled from roughly fifty feet away.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, I got her!” he answered with a laugh. “She’s a feisty one, though!”</p>
<p>    “So’s this one, dude!” the drummer cackled. “If I didn’t have an Iron grip, I’d have lost her by now!”</p>
<p>    “No fuckin’ shit, man!” Bobby agreed before taking a deep breath.</p>
<p>    “Let’s get these two back to Shore!” he called out before following his friend’s lead in more ways than one, starting with a deep breath of his own.</p>
<p>    The bassist soon managed to swim close enough to Shore to get his feet on the sandy bottom, which allowed him to actually stand upright. Even though he was six-foot-even, the Water still came up to his chest in this spot, which still put it over the head of the woman he’d grabbed. Swinging her up bridal-style, he quickly started for the dry Sand that made up the shoreline, despite her almost immediately starting to pound on his shoulders.</p>
<p>    Bobby shot the woman a bit of a Dark look and let out a soft growl that warned her to quit pushing his buttons as he carried her onto the Beach. He wasn’t sure whether she and her companion spoke English or not, but it seemed to convey the message he wanted to get across. Almost immediately, the woman in his arms ceased beating on his shoulders and seemed to shrink into his embrace with a squeak. She seemed almost childlike once she did that, which allowed him to carry her easier without having to worry that he was gonna drop her like a too-heavy box on moving Day.</p>
<p>    Rikki was panting as he joined him moments later with the other woman in his arms, his own expression equally Dark. He was forced to bare and snap his teeth at her like he was some kinda Wild Animal, which finally got her to quit pounding on even his head. It was then that he heaved a sigh of relief and called out to his younger friend, who was quick to turn so he at least half-faced him. That was when he jerked his head toward the Beach house, given that he’d gotten the feeling that he couldn’t let these girls be found by the authorities.</p>
<p>    “I can’t explain why, but I get the feeling that letting the cops get their hands on these two won’t End very well,” he said when his friend cocked a brow at him curiously.</p>
<p>    “Hey, strong Intuition’s <em>my</em> department, asshat!” Bobby laughed.</p>
<p>    “Suck my left nut, ya dick!” the drummer shot back with a laugh of his own. “Just c’mon, and let’s get these two inside before ya do.”</p>
<p>    “I’m not sucking your cock or either of your nuts, man,” he chuckled. “But yeah, let’s get them inside. I don’t think they’d normally be very heavy, but this one’s starting to make my arms tired.”</p>
<p>    “Prolly the soaked fur coats they’re in,” Rikki mused, grunting with the effort of getting moving again.</p>
<p>    “That’s what I was thinking,” the bassist agreed with a grunt of his own. “They’re prolly from Siberia or something, if they’re dressed like this, ’cuz this one doesn’t seem to understand English.”</p>
<p>    “Seriously? ’Cuz neither does this one,” he said.</p>
<p>    “Took growling at her to make her quit pounding on my shoulders, ’cuz she didn’t seem to understand me telling her that I was just trying to get her outta the Water,” Bobby explained.</p>
<p>    The drummer didn’t get another chanceta respond before their Melody section was ushering them into the Beach house. Already armed with soft, fluffy towels, they barely managed to wrangle the strange women outta their soaked garments with their heads intact. It seemed the women thought they Intended to rape them till they simply wrapped the towels they held around their nude, but downright gorgeous forms.</p>
<p>    Both women watched in Curiosity as Rikki and the bassist dried themselves off as much as they could for not dropping the swimming trunks they wore. It seemed they were quick learners, ’cuz they were quick to play a game of <em>copy Cat</em> like they were young children. Soft, pleasured purrs drifted up from their throats as they seemingly didn’t care that they were stark-nekkid as they ran the soft, but thick cloth over their flesh. In fact, they didn’t seem to care that they’d nothing to put on once they were dried off, both seeming almost content to just wrap back up in the now-wet towels.</p>
<p>    Letting out a soft chuckle, Bobby gestured for the one he’d nabbed and carried inside to follow him before turning to head to the bedroom he was sharing with his front man. Since there weren’t many other choices, he figured that letting her borrow some of his clothes was better than making her run around nekkid. Aside from not wanting to seem like an ass when his mama’d raised him to be a gentleman, he didn’t want the Temptation of seeing her nudity when he couldn’t Communicate with her.</p>
<p>    In that bedroom, though, he was surprised when the strange woman gently grabbed him so their fronts were flush against one another. A hand on the back of his neck gently applied enough pressure to make him lean down so she could look him in the eye. He was startled at first, ’cuz he thought her Intent wasta kiss him, so he was further surprised when all she did was press their foreheads together. This was a familiar move to him, ’cuz he’d done this with a couple ex-girlfriends in the Past, and that was the only reason he relaxed. But he wasn’t expecting to feel a sensation akin to a straw being sucked on at the point where their foreheads met, which made him gasp, even as he felt his muscles go limp.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Neptunian 0634 used an ability that–as far as she knew–was possessed by only her people once she’d brought the man down to her level. She and Neptunian 0672 couldn’t understand anything that came outta his mouth or that of the taller man with Golden hair. It was pretty obvious that they were Communicating with each other and what appeared to be their compatriots, but the words they spoke were meaninglessta the sisters.</p>
<p>    Within moments, she’d gleaned the Knowledge she wanted, which was mostly that of whatever language the strange males were speaking. Only then did she loose her Energetic hold on him, which allowed him to jerk his head up and take a couple big steps back from her. His eyes–which were the Color of what her new Knowledge told her was Chocolate–were so wide, they looked like they’d pop outta their sockets. No doubt he was terrified of her now due to what she’d just done, but she’d to momentarily paralyze him, or he’d have pulled back too soon and rendered them both blithering idiots.</p>
<p>    “Da fuq was that?” the strange male asked.</p>
<p>    “Let’s just go with telepathy,” Neptunian 0634 chuckled, grimacing at the sound of the foreign language rolling off her tongue.</p>
<p>    “What? Telepathy doesn’t really exist!” he protested.</p>
<p>    “Too hard to explain in your tongue, butcha won’t understand, if I explain it in mine,” the young woman answered with a shrug.</p>
<p>    “That makes absolutely no sense,” he said, a frown marring his gorgeous features.</p>
<p>    Before she could sift through her new Knowledge and formulate a response, she heard a barrage of her own, more familiar tongue, which made her head snap to the left.</p>
<p>    “What on Earth?” the strange male asked, his brows furrowing as Neptunian 0672 burst into the bedroom they were in, the taller blonde hot on her heels.</p>
<p>    “Sorry, man,” he panted. “She took off after she did something weird to me and demanded to know where her sister was.”</p>
<p>    “You, too, huh?” the brunette chucked. “Felt like she stuck a straw into my forehead and started sucking on it with her brain or something.”</p>
<p>    “’Cuz we kinda did,” Neptunian 0634 laughed, drawing their attention to her. “We couldn’t understand the two of ya any more than you’d have understood us.”</p>
<p>    “No shit,” they chorused.</p>
<p>    “Ya were pretty much speaking Gibberish just now, as far as we’re concerned,” the blonde told her.</p>
<p>    “It’s not Gibberish–it’s the Native language of Neptune,” she retorted.</p>
<p>    It seemed that neither male believed her, but neither she, nor her younger sister particularly cared whether they did or not. Even though it was definitely far warmer than their home Planet–warm enough to be comfortable without fifteen layers–they preferred being covered. Voicing that particular desire seemed to get the males in gear, though, ’cuz the brunette knelt down to dig through some kinda bag on the floor. His compatriot requested that he be given a moment before he turned to leave the room, which he Returned to after a few moments.</p>
<p>    Neptunian 0672 snatched the cloth that the blonde Returned with, almost instantly figuring out how to don each garment on her own. Her sister was a lil more courteous in taking what his compatriot held out to her once he rose, but she was equally quick to figure out how to don the garments. She was no stranger to any kinda britches, but she was certainly a bit confounded by these coming down to only her knees.</p>
<p>    Both sisters choseta ignore trivial things like that, but they weren’t exactly given much of a chanceta ask any questions. That included making a request to mate, both for the relief it’d bring them physically and to Create a new generation of their people. After all, they weren’t quite sure how these males’d react to such a blatant request, so they almost didn’t wanna make it. The fact that their other Golden-headed friend peeped into the room and said something about there being cops who wanted to talk to them made the women even more reluctant. No way should such a request be made in front of parties that wouldn’t be involved in the mating, and especially the conception of a child.</p>
<p>    Shoving his hair back outta his face, the brunette told the sistersta wait here so nobody’d see them as they moved from one room to another. Neptunian 0634 simply shrugged when her sister shot her a confused look upon him saying something about it being better that these visitors not know of their presence. He apparently didn’t have Time to explain as he and his compatriot headed out, and to what part of the structure they were now in was anyone’s guess. They’d no doubt get an explanation later, after the strange visitors were gone, and both women were patient enough to wait till then.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few short minutes with the cops who’d knocked on the door of the Beach house they were renting was all it took to satisfy them enough for them to leave. They were both convinced that Bobby and Rikki hadn’t seen anybody in or near the wreckage currently being fished outta the Pacific by the military. No doubt that wreckage was gonna be shipped off to Area 51 to reside with everything else supposedly related to aliens that the gov’ment’d been collecting for decades now. If that was the case, like they suspected–well, even if it wasn’t Destroyed, that wreckage’d never be seen by anyone outside the military again.</p>
<p>    Once the front door was closed and locked again, all four guys heaved sighs of relief and wiped the sweat off their brows with their hands. They were glad that apparently, even this house’s neighbors hadn’t seen the pair of musicians wrangling the pair of women into it. If there was any good in this strange situation, at least they wouldn’t be experimented on like living lab rats–or carted off to a looney bin, for that matter.</p>
<p>    However, that made Bret speak up about questioning said women, now that the cops were gone and still obliviousta their existence. None of them knew what their names were, so they didn’t know what the hell to call them besides <em>Thing One</em> and <em>Thing Two</em>. Somehow, the rhythm section got the feeling that’d just incite the pair, especially the one Rikki’d brought in, and there was no telling what they could do. If they could suck information straight outta their brains just by pressing their foreheads together, what else were they capable of?</p>
<p>    “All right, girls–coast’s clear now,” the drummer called into the bedroom they were hiding in.</p>
<p>    “If we hadn’t already picked two of your brains, we wouldn’t know whatcha meant by that,” came a chuckled response before the women appeared.</p>
<p>    “Wait, what?” Bret asked, a confused look marring his features.</p>
<p>    “Let’s just call it telepathy for now,” the one Bobby’d carried in laughed. “It won’t make any sense in your tongue, and I think we’ve freaked out your compatriots enough, as is.”</p>
<p>    “The hell’s this chick talking about?” he asked, looking at his rhythm section.</p>
<p>    “Dude, it felt like she stuck a straw into my head and started sucking on it with her brain!” Rikki said, gesturing toward the one he’d carried in. “Next thing I know, she’s demanding to know where her sister was and screaming in Gibberish as she’s running off stark-nekkid!”</p>
<p>    “Don’t ask me, ’cuz the first part’s my answer,” the bassist said, throwing up his hands.</p>
<p>    “This makes no sense,” CC said. “I feel like I did a few too many bumps, and not knowing what the hell to call these two ain’t helping me.”</p>
<p>    “Neptunian 0634 and Neptunian 0672, respectively,” the woman who’d been doing all the talking so far supplied as she gestured to each of them.</p>
<p>    “Ya gotta have actual names,” Bobby said.</p>
<p>    “Those <em>are</em> our names, jackass,” the second woman finally spoke up.</p>
<p>    “Well, they’re gonna sound weird here, where you’ve names like ours–which’re Bobby, Bret, Rikki, and CC, by the way,” he retorted, gesturing to himself and his band mates.</p>
<p>    “I guess we’ll have to help them come up with names–not to mention a background story–that makes sense, then,” Rikki sighed. “’Cuz if they’re <em>really</em> from Neptune like they say–well, they’re gonna stick out like sore thumbs, if we don’t.”</p>
<p>    Nodding his agreement, the bassist moved to grab something outta the suitcase he’d dug in for clothesta let this Neptunian 0634 borrow. As he Returned moments later, he said that he’d an idea that’d be kinda on the unique side, but it could work pretty well. Still, he needed to do a bit of research to flesh out his idea, which was why he’d gone to get something his friends rarely saw.</p>
<p>    The trio of blondes’d been raised in Christian households of some denomination, but he was the odd one out in yet another sense. Due to being of Seminole blood, his mother’d raised Bobby and his older siblings in a Pagan household, especially after his father’d left when he was just an infant. Once he was grown, he’d started looking into the cultures and Pantheons of races outside the Seminole, and so far, he really seemed to like the Ancient Celts. Even still, his friends disagreed with his Spiritual choices, so he tended not to talk about it with our in front of them, but now wasn’t the Time for such division.</p>
<p>    His idea was heavily-reliant on Astrology, which was why he’d busted out his Grimoire for a memory refresher or two. According to that particular Ancient practice, the Planet Neptune was named after the Roman God who shared the same name. In being a Sea God like his Greek equivalent Poseidon, his Thought was that these women could pick names whose meanings related to the Sea. But since Neptune was also called the Planet of Illusion, and ruled over Intuition and Dreams, they could also pick names that related to those names.</p>
<p>    After giving it a moment’s Thought, Rikki admitted that he didn’t really have a better idea than the one posed by his lone brunette band mate. He doubted either of the shorter blondes’d any better ones either, so he was all for giving this one an honest shot. Even if he still disagreed with Paganism as a whole once it was all said and done, learning something new never hurt anyone, either. Maybe they’d all learn a few things that fell under the umbrella of Astrology, but more than just things about Neptune. After all, the research spacecraft <em>Voyager 2’d</em> recently flown by its closest neighbor–the Planet Uranus–and it seemed the entirety of their own Planet was enthralled and wanted to know more. If that was true now, no doubt the focus’d shift to the next Planet in line, which was the same one these two claimed to be from.</p>
<p>    Laughing as he opened his Grimoire and started leafing through it, Bobby agreed that he’d a very solid point in what he’d said. Humanity was always looking to explore, and they seemed to really like starting on a new puzzle before finishing the one they were currently working on. Not even all the Mysteries of Earth’d been completely solved, yet humanity was already looking to solve the Mysteries of all the other Planets. And as if that wasn’t enough, they were even looking for new, previously-undiscovered Planetsta start studying and unraveling. So far, nothing’d been discovered beyond the tiny Planet known as Pluto, which was the furthest thing from the Sun and within something called the Kuiper belt. If there was anything floating around out there beyond Pluto, it’d yet to be discovered, as far as the whole of humanity was concerned.</p>
<p>    “Neptune–the Planet of Illusion,” he read once he found what he was looking for. “Neptune, another of the Outer Planets, was discovered in 1846. Its slow orbit around our Zodiac ensures that its effect’s generational in Nature.”</p>
<p>    “Zodiac–what’s that?” the one known as Neptunian 0672 asked.</p>
<p>    “I’ll explain that part in a lil bit, ’cuz it gets a lot more complicated,” the bassist answered with a chuckle. “Let's stick with one thing at a Time so ya don’t get too overwhelmed.”</p>
<p>    Her sister shot her a certain look that shut her up prolly as much as whatever she said to her, which musta been in what could be considered their Native tongue.</p>
<p>    “Neptune’s glyph’s the Trident of Poseidon, God of the Seas,” Bobby continued once they’d settled down. “If you’ll recall, I said that Poseidon was the Greek equivalent of the Roman Neptune.”</p>
<p>    Everybody, even his blonde band mates, nodded and gestured for him to keep going.</p>
<p>    “Much about this Planet’s fluid–Neptune rules the Oceans of the Earth–Changeable and illusory in Nature,” he read. “Dreams, Illusion, abstract Thought, and the Mysterious’re all governed by Neptune.”</p>
<p>    “I guess <em>that</em> explains that seedy bent of Bret’s,” Rikki snickered as he grinned.</p>
<p>    “Hey! Da fuq’s <em>that</em> supposed to mean?” the front man asked.</p>
<p>    His bassist couldn’t help but laugh as he said that the drummer kinda had a point, whether it coulda been phrased better or not. Due to being a Pisces and therefore being ruled by the Planet they were currently talking about, he’d a seedy, Mysterious side to him that couldn’t be helped or truly explained. Said bassist understood that, though, ’cuz he’d a seedy and much more Mysterious bent of his own, which they’d already noticed. It came from being a Scorpio who was ruled by Pluto, which was named after the Roman God of the Underworld.</p>
<p>    “But we’ll get into that more once I start going over the Zodiac for these two,” Bobby said as he gestured to the pair of strange women.</p>
<p>    “Works for us, man,” the front man agreed, nodding.</p>
<p>    “Our Spirituality’s important to this Planet, and how we harness that Energy for our personal betterment,” he read. “Neptune invites us to let its Energy wash over us and to use a meditative state to gain Insights and heightened Awareness–Poetry, Music, and dance’re among the trance-like activities which this Planet favors.”</p>
<p>    “Well, that certainly explains a lot in Bret’s case!” CC laughed.</p>
<p>    “Neptune <em>does</em> have its showier side, as it rules movies, television, theater, fashion, and all forms of glamour,” the bassist continued. “In Essence, Neptune’s Creating an Illusion–of what’s Enchanting on the outside and captivating within. Neptune’s a Mystique which doesn’t reveal itself easily. It can be a poser, too, dabbling in flattery–and subversion.”</p>
<p>    All but the pair of women seemed a bit disturbed by that, but didn’t try to interrupt him again.</p>
<p>    “The Shadow side of Neptune’s akin to the aging Star who can’t make one more curtain. When the Lights’re low, this Planet plays in a Netherworld of drugs, alcohol, trances, and hypnosis,” Bobby read, making all their eyes widen.</p>
<p>    “Holy shit, dude,” the drummer breathed.</p>
<p>    “Neptunian Energy reeks of Escapism on its Darker Days, a Sea of delusion, hypochondria, and abnormality–sleep and Dreams’re also Lorded over by this Planet,” he continued with a chuckle. “At the End of the Day, Neptune keeps coming atcha–how’ll you receive it?”</p>
<p>    “Jesus H. Christ,” Rikki said, shaking his head.</p>
<p>    “It takes Neptune a hundred and sixty-five Yearsta complete its whirl around the Zodiac, spending roughly fourteen Years at each sign,” the bassist read. “It’s feminine Energy, and rules Pisces and the Twelfth House. Neptune’s known as the higher octave of Venus, and is the second of the Transcendental Planets.”</p>
<p>    Naturally, the strange pair of sisters were fixated on the Zodiac that he’d mentioned several Times now, but they certainly had a better Understanding of why he suggested Sea-themed names. They’d their own Spiritual practices on their home Planet, but they were vastly different from the ones on this new Planet. But not only that, those Spiritual practices didn’t include anything like this Zodiac he spoke of–well, that they knew of, that is.</p>
<p>    Bobby chuckled as he used his finger as a bookmark and flipped to a different section of his Grimoire so he could answer their question. It was pretty obvious that–regardless of when and where they were from–they weren’t gonna stop asking about it till he did. Besides, his friends were looking increasingly curious as he skimmed till he found what he was looking for, which was certainly a first. Maybe they were expressing a Curiosity that’d been there for Years that they hadn’t wanted to admit to, or maybe it’d developed with the appearance of these women and their own obvious Curiosity.</p>
<p>    Finding what he was looking for, the bassist readjusted his Grimoire so he was holding it above his lap, which made it easier to read, but didn’t lose his previous place. According to the notes he’d spent his entire Life making, the Zodiac was an area of the Sky that extended approximately eight degrees North or South–as measured in Celestial latitude–of the Ecliptic, the apparent Path of the Sun across the Celestial sphere over the course of the Year. The Paths of the Moon and visible Planets–and no doubt even Planets that hadn’t yet been discovered by humanity–were also within the belt of the Zodiac. If that was the case, there were doubtless Planets beyond Pluto that followed similar Paths, but technology hadn’t advanced enough to see them from Earth.</p>
<p>    In Western Astrology–and formerly Astronomy–the Zodiac was divided into twelve signs, each occupying thirty degrees of Celestial longitude and roughly corresponding to the Constellations. Those Constellations were the Star signs that nearly every human on the Planet was familiar with–those of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. After all, there were tons more Constellations that could be seen, but they weren’t all included in the Zodiac, even if they tied into each others’ stories.</p>
<p>    “These Astrological signs form a Celestial coordinate system–or even more specifically, an ecliptic coordinate system–which takes the ecliptic as the origin of latitude and the Sun’s position at the Vernal Equinox as the origin of longitude,” Bobby concluded.</p>
<p>    “So, that’s whatcha mean when ya say things like you’re a Scorpio, and he’s a Pisces,” Neptunian 0634 mused, gesturing between him and the front man.</p>
<p>    “It means that the Sun appeared to be moving past some part of those Constellations–or Star patterns–when we were born,” he said with a nod. “Kinda like it was moving through Leo when Rikki was born, Taurus when CC was born.”</p>
<p>    The pair of sisters looked confused, which made him chuckle.</p>
<p>    “Remember how I said it takes Neptune a hundred and sixty-five Yearsta move through the Zodiac?” the bassist asked.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, but what’s that supposed to mean?” Neptunian 0672 countered.</p>
<p>    “Here on Earth, it’s a measurement of Time,” Bobby explained. “An Earth Year’s how long it takes this Planet to orbit or Travel around the Sun once.”</p>
<p>    Both nodded their Understanding, which allowed him to continue.</p>
<p>    “The Earth Travels around the Sun a hundred and sixty-five Times for every one Time that Neptune does,” he told them, unable to help a laugh when their eyes widened.</p>
<p>    “Means Neptune’s barely moved since at least the four of us were born,” Rikki chuckled. “I’m the oldest since I’ll be twenty-six Earth Years soon, Bobby’s the youngest at twenty-two Earth Years.”</p>
<p>    Neptunian 0634 looked thoughtful for a moment, then said she was most likely the next youngest, if she’d done her calculations right. According to how Time was measured on her Planet, she was supposed to be between a month and two months old. Obviously, she was far too big to be a mere infant in Earth Time, and the same was true for her sister–who was about a tenth of a Neptunian month younger than her. Going by Earth Time, they’d to be far older than that, or they wouldn’t have been considered grown women or pretty closeta it.</p>
<p>    Even Bobby was a bit surprised when she said that she was pretty sure she’d have been twenty Earth Years, maybe edging on twenty-one. Her sister’s age was even younger than that, though, since she was pretty sure Neptunian 0672 was supposed to be around sixteen or seventeen Earth Years old. But their age and what it translated to on the other Planets didn’t really matter to them as much as a few other things.</p>
<p>    “Well, I say we come up with names for both of ya,” Bret said.</p>
<p>    “He means names like ours,” the drummer chuckled. “Call each other by your Neptunian names when we’re alone like this, but that’s too weird for us.”</p>
<p>    “Not only that, but if we take ya around others who <em>don’t</em> know where you’re <em>really</em> from, we need something that sounds more normal as per humanity’s standardsta call ya,” his brunette friend agreed.</p>
<p>    “We could call ya things like <em>Bitch</em> and <em>Cunt,</em> but I get the feeling that’d get us knocked out,” CC laughed.</p>
<p>    “We’re not female Dogs–whatever those are–and just ’cuz we <em>have</em> female genitalia doesn’t mean that’s <em>all</em> we are,” the younger sister snapped.</p>
<p>    All four guys cracked up when she said that, which made them claim to be the same when it came to being called dicks.</p>
<p>    “I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t call them <em>Thing One</em> and <em>Thing Two,”</em> the front man chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Seriously, ’cuz that prolly woulda gotten us killed,” Bobby agreed, not bothering to fight when the older sister took his Grimoire from him.</p>
<p>    “I rather like the name Morgana,” the one currently known as Neptunian 0634 said after peering at the page he’d been bookmarking with his finger.</p>
<p>    “Wait, ya can actually read that?” the shortest blonde asked.</p>
<p>    “Part of the Knowledge I took from your compatriot earlier,” she answered with a chuckle of her own.</p>
<p>    “Same here,” her sister agreed, taking her turn to glance over the page that the Grimoire was opened to. “Personally, I like Stellina and Dylan, but I can’t make up my mind.”</p>
<p>    The bassist chuckled as he took his Grimoire back from her, saying that she didn’t necessarily have to pick only one of them. After all, humans generally had a first, middle, and surname–some even had dual first or middle names in addition to their surname. Not only that, but some women’d hyphenate their maiden and married names so that they’d two surnames instead, ’cuz they’d drop their middle names when they did that. One such example was his own older sister, who’d dropped her middle name upon getting married so that her name was Patricia Kuykendall-Pittman.</p>
<p>    Both sisters wore thoughtful looks as he rose and left the room long enough to Return his Grimoire to its hiding place. Once he joined them again, the older of the pair said she preferred the name Morgana Celestina, but she was still unsure about a surname. Her sister was decided on Stellina Dylan, although she prolly wasn’t gonna answer to anything but Dylan, which’d take some getting used to.</p>
<p>    Settling between them again, Bobby assured them that answering to her chosen middle name was perfectly fine. One of his ex-girlfriend’s names was Dana Michelle, but she wouldn’t answer to anything besides Mishy unless it was one of her parents trying to get her attention. And all of the guys were the same way, considering that two of them answered to shortened versions of their first names. Bret used a variant of his middle name as his surname to protect his and his family’s privacy, and CC’s actual name was nowhere near what he went by. That meant these two could go by pretty much anything they wanted to, and they didn’t necessarily have to come up with a surname for themselves just yet.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t long before their conversation was cut short by growling stomachs, which made both women blush adorably. Rikki and the bassist assured them that there was nothing to be embarrassed about, ’cuz it wasn’t like they could help being hungry without eating, as they roseta start on food. After all, they seemed pretty similar to humans–well, aside from whatever they’d done to them earlier–so they were bound to need sustenance sooner or later.</p>
<p>    They just hoped they’d be able to find something these two’d like, ’cuz Earth food was obviously foreign to them, since their only other choice was starving to Death.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After dinner, which went surprisingly smoothly considering the circumstances, the sister now known as Morgana was quick to request a walk down the Beach. She chose the bassist to accompany her, and none of the others were exactly surprised by which of the guys she picked. It’d been the lone brunette to save her from ultimately drowning and carry her into the Beach house, so they figured she might be suffering from a bit of hero worship now. Such a thing wasn’t exactly uncommon after a traumatizing experience, so they decided not to think much of it as the pair headed out the back door.</p>
<p>    The Winds were relatively Calm, especially when compared to Neptunian Winds, as the pair walked down the Beach barefoot. Bobby didn’t try to jerk his hand away when she grabbed it in a gentle, yet firm grip, not even realizing she was calling on part of the Knowledge she’d stolen from him again. In fact, he was more curious about why she’d left her supposed home Planet than why she wanted some kinda physical contact.</p>
<p>    “Well, first of all, it’s far colder on Neptune,” she chuckled. “The Knowledge I took from ya earlier says it’d be in the neighborhood of four hundred below zero, to be honest.”</p>
<p>    “Fuck me, nekkid and runnin’,” the bassist breathed in shock. “It’s not even that cold on Mars, or even Jupiter!”</p>
<p>    “We’ve our ways of staying relatively warm,” Morgana laughed. “Like what Dylan and I were wearing when we first landed here.”</p>
<p>    “Fair enough.” He nodded as they continued at their leisurely pace. “I’m sure there’s other reasons, though.”</p>
<p>    “Well, the next is the insane Winds,” the strange woman said. “Again, going by what I took from ya earlier, they’d average around seven hundred miles per hour.”</p>
<p>    “Sweet Goddess!” Bobby cried, staring at her in astonishment.</p>
<p>    “Oh, they could get as high as <em>twelve</em> hundred miles per hour,” she told him. “That’s why we’d to build our structures high above the churning methane Seas.”</p>
<p>    The bassist was even more amazed, thinking that sounded kinda like the Beach houses of Florida, which were usually built on stilts due to Hurricanes.</p>
<p>    “But that led to problems in and of itself, of course,” Morgana sighed, gently tightening her grip on his hand.</p>
<p>    “Whaddaya mean? ’Cuz there’s a lotta different problems that could result from that,” he mused.</p>
<p>    The strange woman seemed to hesitate for a few moments, as if debating how to answer his question–and how much to tell him, if she did. After a few minutes of Silence, she finally sighed, hoping she wasn’t about to scare him off with the answer she gave him. Humans were strange compared to her people, and even though she felt compelled to be honest with him, another part felt it might be too soon.</p>
<p>    Bobby was both surprised and not when she said that the insane Winds of her home Planet’d killed pretty much every male old enough to mate. They were the ones who not only gathered survival resources since they could withstand the extreme cold better, but they were also the ones who maintained their buildings and other structures. Like window cleaners here, they were often forced to brave their Elements and do such maintenance from the exterior of those structures. Naturally, being tethered to the outside of a building in high Winds posed risks, but it wasn’t like they’d any other choices.</p>
<p>    Unfortunately, those risks’d led to the Deaths of pretty much every reproductive-age male when they’d suffer a nasty impact with the structure they were tethered to. If that wasn’t how they met their End, it was usually from being blown off their platform and knocked around till their tether snapped. Once their tether snapped, they’d plummet to a frigid Death in those churning Seas of liquid methane and other Elements considered more toxic than not to humanity.</p>
<p>    “Fuck me,” the bassist breathed as she concluded her tale.</p>
<p>    “Exactly.” Morgana nodded as she sighed once again. “All our males’re either infants or young children. Even if they <em>could</em> mate in the physical sense, no new children’d be conceived till they were grown men, or at least Dylan’s age.”</p>
<p>    “Not to mention it’s just gross and flat-out wrong to fuck a lil kid, regardless of gender,” he said.</p>
<p>    “Well, that, too, I’ll admit,” the strange woman chuckled. “But going by the immediate concerns…”</p>
<p>    “I get what you’re saying,” Bobby told her. “’Cuz if you’re even half as much like humans as ya seem, it takes a male and a female to reproduce.”</p>
<p>    “Yeah, even Neptunians haven’t figured out how to use two males or two femalesta reproduce,” she agreed.</p>
<p>    “So, ya were one of your kind seeking not just a new placeta live, but a way to procreate,” the bassist mused. “Why pick Earth, though?”</p>
<p>    “We were actually supposed to go to Mars,” Morgana answered. “But the mother craft was all but Destroyed by an asteroid, and mine and Dylan’s escape hatch overshot its landing Planet.”</p>
<p>    He couldn’t help laughing at the Thought of overshooting one’s landing point due to what amounted to an inter-stellar car wreck. Even as she shot him a dirty look since she and her sister were the only survivors outta a group of two hundred, he couldn’t help it. Talk about a serious wrong turn and getting lost a ridiculous distance from home with no way to get back there, as it were.</p>
<p>    When she thought about it like that, she realized that Bobby’d a point and even managed to find the humor that’d made him laugh. A soft giggle bubbled up from her throat as she considered his words, but she still couldn’t help the Direction her Thoughts turned in. Not only did her people need to find a suitable placeta live and malesta mate with, but her own body was Beginning to commit mutiny. She desperately needed the physical pleasure of mating, but she also needed to conceive a child as quickly as possible. In addition to needing to boost her peoples’ numbers, she didn’t wanna suffer what’d happen, if she failed to conceive again.</p>
<p>    Clearly, the male at her side was surprised when she pulled him down to her level, her arms wrapping around his neck. He seemed even more surprised when she captured his lips with her own, quick to take the lead as a growl rumbled up from the depths of his torso. She was used to the males being Dominant when it came to mating, though, ’cuz that’s how the males of her own race were genetically engineered. In fact, Morgana prolly wouldn’t have known what to do, if he’d tried to get her to take the lead and Dominate him, instead.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t long before they found themselves nude on a pallet made of the clothing they’d been wearing, which was now spread across the Sand. Panting softly as he dug in one of the pockets of the britches he’d been wearing, the bassist produced some kinda folding pouch. From that, he produced something else that he quickly ripped open, its contents being applied to his very obvious protuberance like a second skin, of sorts. He chuckled as he looked back up at her face, a smirk curving his lips and his eyes glittering like Stars for a myriad of reasons. The strange woman seemed disappointed when he said that he wasn’t mounting her without whatever this device was for a couple different reasons.</p>
<p>    “I know ya need to boost your people’s numbers, but I’m not ready for kids,” Bobby told her. “There’ll be other chancesta conceive in the Future, so it’s not like that part’ll never happen.”</p>
<p>    “I’d really rather not suffer the pain of <em>not</em> conceiving again, but at least I’ll get some pleasure outta it, either way,” she sighed.</p>
<p>    “If you’re talking about monthly bleeding, I’m sure not even human women look forward to it,” the bassist chuckled, moving to kneel between her thighs. “I know my sister doesn’t.”</p>
<p>    “Even the pain of being mounted for the first Time was practically naught compared to that!” Morgana spat, wrapping her legs around him once he loomed over her on all-fours.</p>
<p>    “Definitely sounds like a human woman to me,” he said, grinning as he gently ground against her. “But like I said, there’ll be other chances in the Future. And even though I don’t like just the Thought, maybe you’ll find some other guy you’d rather have kids with more than me.”</p>
<p>    “Unlikely, but for now, I need more pleasure than this,” the strange woman told him, bucking up to meet his grinding.</p>
<p>    Bobby simply grinned as he readjusted himself, which allowed him to get his burgeoning tip lined up with her drenched opening. He told her that even though he’d really rather not have kids at this point in his Life, he could definitely help her out with the pleasure angle. No woman he got his hands on in that sense walked away from him dissatisfied, and he considered getting his own pleasure icing on the cake.</p>
<p>    The bassist was gentle about pushing into her, even though he’d gone above and beyond on preparing her for this part. Even still, Morgana couldn’t help a loud moan that drowned out his own groan as he sank into her till he’d bottomed out. Once he’d reached that point, which allowed her to feel him all the way to the small indentation in her abdomen, he paused to give them both a few momentsta adjust. He didn’t wanna blow his load too soon and leave her dissatisfied when he said he wouldn’t, but he also didn’t wanna hurt her by trying to take things faster than her body could handle.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t long before the strange woman managed to buck her hips up against him, which made them both let out pleasured noises again. Taking that as her sign that she was ready, he readjusted himself enough to avoid crushing her, which gave him a better angle to work with. He was thankful that it was so late, it wasn’t likely that they’d get caught since this wasn’t a nude Beach as he slowly pulled outta her. Muffling her next moan with another kiss, he started a slow, gentle rhythm that undoubtedly wouldn’t stay that way for long.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roughly the same distance away from the Beach house in the opposite Direction, Rikki was almost at his wit’s End with the sister now known as Dylan. He’d asked her pretty much the same question–about why they’d have sought out another Planet to live on–and she hadn’t been quite as forthcoming as her sister. She’d certainly made no bones about finding somewhere warmer and less Windy to call home, but she hadn’t mentioned a thing about sex and breeding.</p>
<p>    Instead, she’d turned her attention to trying to seduce him, which’d started out innocently enough with just grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together. Soon enough, that wasn’t enough for her, and–like her older sister–the strange girl’d started calling on the Knowledge she’d taken from him earlier. Between that and her own instincts telling her so, she’d have thought he’d enjoy the kiss she’d tried to give him.</p>
<p>    Taking her by surprise, the drummer’d been quick to gently push her back and put some distance between them, clearly taking care not to hurt her. He’d worn a somewhat stern-looking expression, but there was also a glitter to his aqua eyes that hadn’t been there earlier in the Eve. Was he actually disturbed by the advance she’d made, even though she’d tried to be gentle about it, or was it just a <em>façade</em> to mislead her into thinking he wasn’t interested in mating? Based on her limited experience with the males of her own people, mating was all they thought about besides food and where to get it. Well, that was till they succeeded in starting families of their own, which was when said families and their well-being took higher priority.</p>
<p>    Dylan supposed that the only way she was gonna find out wasta give seducing him another try, but with a lil something extra this Time. She called on the Power that all Neptunians were born with and started learning how to harness only once they reached reproductive age. Akin to a Vampire convincing humansta let them feed during sex easier, this Power made snagging their choice mate easier for Neptunians. It pretty much always worked, as long as they hadn’t taken ill, so she didn’t see why it wouldn’t work at the current moment.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmmph!”</em> Rikki momentarily flailed as she knocked him flat on his back, then plastered herself against his front and kissed him again.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmm,”</em> the strange young woman hummed, following her instincts and grinding down on him.</p>
<p>    “Get…off me!” he grunted, managing to roll her onto her side next to him.</p>
<p>    <em>“Oof!”</em> Dylan momentarily gasped, barely snagging his ankle when he got up and started to walk away.</p>
<p>    “Dylan, if ya don’t let go, I’ma break your fuckin’ wrist,” the drummer warned her. “And Mom raised me to be a better man than to hurt a woman.”</p>
<p>    “It was a fuckin’ kiss, Rikki!” she protested, pouting up at him.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, and kisses usually lead to a lot more than that,” Rikki retorted.</p>
<p>    “Maybe that’s what I want,” the strange young woman told him, crossing her arms as she met his continued frown with one of her own.</p>
<p>    “If your sister did her math right, that makes ya sixteen or seventeen,” he reminded her. “I’m damn near a decade older than you, so that makes fuckin’ ya illegal!”</p>
<p>    “Says who?” Dylan finally pushed herself up outta the Sand, still meeting his gaze head-on, despite being significantly shorter.</p>
<p>    “Says my country’s gov’ment, that’s who!” the drummer practically roared. “If ya were at least eighteen, you’d be considered grown and I wouldn’t say no to much beyondja telling me to put my dick in a meat grinder!”</p>
<p>    She took a couple steps back, now actually a lil scared of him.</p>
<p>    “As it stands, you’re considered a minor,” Rikki told her. “I’m not putting my dick on the chopping block, so to speak, just so I can have a lil fun.”</p>
<p>    “Even if that’s what I want?” the strange young woman asked.</p>
<p>    “Even if it’s whatcha want.” He nodded before heaving a sigh. “Look, it’s not about whether I’m attracted to ya or not–it’s about going to jail, or staying a free man.”</p>
<p>    Dylan squared her shoulders as she gave him a hard look of her own. “Then enjoy finding pleasure on your own, ’cuz if <em>you</em> won’t mate with me, I’ll find another male who will.”</p>
<p>    The drummer was momentarily too shocked by her wordsta really respond, which gave her plenty of Time to turn on her heel and take off. When he realized she wasn’t playing around, he yelled at her to come back as he gave chase, knowing she didn’t know her way around the area. No doubt she’d wind up getting lost and be unable to find her way back, and then she’d be completely on her own in unfamiliar territory.</p>
<p>    But she proved to be far faster than he’d have thought, easily putting a quarter-mile between them in what seemed like mere seconds. Rikki was finally forced to stop, doubled over with his hands braced on his kneesta catch the same breath he was Cursing beneath. He wasn’t gonna be able to catch her on foot, and short of driving around and asking anyone he saw if they’d seen anyone matching her description, he didn’t know how he was gonna find her. The Greater Los Angeles area was huge on its own, and it’d take Daysta search just it–he didn’t even wanna think about broadening that search to places like Long Beach and Ventura.</p>
<p>    Now at a loss as to what to do and having caught his breath, he simply pulled out his smokes so he could light one as he headed back to the Beach house. There was no telling where Bobby and Morgana’d disappeared to, or he’d try finding even them and enlisting their help. But the Beach was a huge place in and of itself, and they coulda wandered at least a couple miles away by now. However, at least the bassist knew the area and wouldn’t let the older of the sisters take off on her own and get lost like this.</p>
<p>    Rikki’s nose scrunched as he stepped onto the back patio, another Thought occurring to him that deterred him from searching for the other pair. If the older of the sisters was even half as horny as Dylan apparently was, he wouldn’t wanna stumble across them getting laid. Since she was estimated to be twenty–and the age difference between them wasn’t nearly as big–no doubt his friend woulda given in to any advances she made on him pretty quickly. He’d absolutely no desire to see any of his friends’ bare asses greeting the Moon, and he definitely didn’t wanna catch them in the middle of getting their funk on. As he stubbed out his smoke before heading into the Beach house, he decided it was prolly a better idea to see if his Melody section was still awake, ’cuz they’d prolly be of more help right now.</p>
<p>    Luck just didn’t seem to be on his side at the moment, ’cuz CC and Bret were already knocked out cold in the bedrooms they shared with him and Bobby, respectively. Waiting till he wouldn’t wake them up, the drummer heaved a sigh that was equal parts worry and serious annoyance. He couldn’t file a missing person’s report on a woman who technically didn’t have an identity, the area was too vast to search alone, and the only ones who could help him were asleep or MIA. All he could do for right now was wait till either Dylan managed to find her way back, or the other pair Returned from wherever they’d disappeared to. It was simply a waiting game, and having pretty much always been a man of action like his friends, waiting wasn’t one of his strong suits.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wandering around this strange new World completely on her own, Dylan was glad that she’d a connection with her sister like none other. As long as Morgana was still alive, she could trace her Energy like a beacon and find her way back to her, even when said sister was asleep. The same was true for her sister–as long as she was still alive, she could be tracked down by her Energy, if her sister grew that concerned about her.</p>
<p>    But for right now, it wasn’t finding her way back to her sister and the men who were essentially their keepers that took precedence. No, this strange young woman was hell-bound and determined to find a male willing to mate with her, even if it took till the ball of Fire humans called the Sun Returned to the Sky. There wasn’t a chance on the Hell-like Planet known as Venus that she wouldn’t allow herself to conceive once again. Even if it wasn’t true for human females, the pain that accompanied the bleeding that followed a failure to conceive wasn’t worth it–it felt like being gutted, to the point of being utterly crippled, to these Neptunian sisters.</p>
<p>    Luckily, it didn’t take her long to stumble across a place where men and women alike waited in a long line out front. She wasn’t sure about the purpose of this place, but it seemed that humans really liked gathering here together in large groups. If that was the case, she’d no doubt find a male that was willing to mate with her here, whether it was in this line or inside the structure they lined up in front of. After all, there were more males–even ones with hair as long as hers or longer–than she could even Begin to count in either tongue she knew.</p>
<p>    But before she could decide whether to get in line at the very back or simply try to sneak past the male that seemed to be guarding the door, Dylan accidentally bumped into somebody. She and the other person let out an <em>Oof!</em> as the force of their collision knocked the Wind outta both of them for a few moments. Feeling hands grab her upper arms in a moderate grip almost made her scream and start fighting till she realized the human was just trying to steady her. Once assured she wasn’t gonna fall and hurt herself, said human–who was yet another long-haired male–let go of her and took a couple steps back. The look on his gorgeous, but youthful face was strange to her, but she was glad she knew this race’s tongue when he opened his mouth.</p>
<p>    “Sorry about that, miss–got lost in Thought and wasn’t watching where I was going again,” he chuckled, the sheepish note in his voice matching the look on his face.</p>
<p>    “Not like either of us’re hurt or anything,” the strange young woman told him.</p>
<p>    “Glad to hear it.” He shot her a downright dazzling smile. “Ya headed into the club, or back home?”</p>
<p>    “I–” Dylan quickly cut herself off, unsure of how to answer his question, and not due to a language barrier.</p>
<p>    “Name’s Richie,” the young male told her. “I can walk ya home, if that’s where you’re headed.”</p>
<p>    “I was just out wandering around, lost in Thoughts of my own,” she laughed. “Just moved here, so I’m still familiarizing myself with the area.”</p>
<p>    “Then lemme walk ya home,” Richie said, offering his elbow like males of her own race often did. “I just moved here recently myself, and one thing I already know’s that a woman shouldn’t be alone after Dark here.”</p>
<p>    The strange young woman didn’t bother asking why he thought that as she took his proffered elbow. “Maybe going back to your place wouldn’t be a bad idea–kinda don’t want my roommates asking questions.”</p>
<p>    “I know the feeling,” he told her. “Butcha happen to be lucky since mine’re outta Town this week.”</p>
<p>    “Wish I could say the same,” Dylan retorted as she allowed him to lead her off.</p>
<p>    The young male was content to walk in Silence, his free hand pressed over hers where it gripped his elbow as if to prevent her losing her grip and getting separated from him. Maybe that was a good thing since–although she could more than take care of herself and find her way back to Morgana–she’d other things on her mind right now. First and foremost was finding a mate, and she was pretty sure she’d done that when she bumped into this male, provided that she handled this situation correctly.</p>
<p>    As they walked to wherever he was taking her, she discreetly used her Neptunian Power on Richie in a way that he wasn’t likely to notice. He shivered slightly, and since it was chillier than earlier and a gentle Breeze’d kicked up, she was content to let him think that was the cause at first. But by the Time they’d reached his dwelling a short while later, the strange young woman’d gotten him riled up into more than a bit of a frenzy. That was exactly what she’d Intended, though, and the kinda response she’d expected outta Rikki when they were on the Beach and she’d knocked him onto his back.</p>
<p>    Outside the front door of this young male’s dwelling, he seemed to finally give in to the torment she’d been Silently subjecting him to. A decidedly needy groan rumbled up from the depths of his chest as he gently pushed her back against the wall next to the portal, then pinned her there with his own body. The moan that drifted up from her own throat was swallowed by the somewhat rough, bruising kiss he gave her as he ground against her, allowing her to feel his already-impressive arousal.</p>
<p>    “If we’re gonna do this, I at least wanna know your name,” he panted after forcing himself to break the kiss.</p>
<p>    “D-Dylan,” the strange young woman gasped, somehow remembering to use her human name.</p>
<p>    “A bit of a tomboy, huh?” Richie chuckled, grinning at her. “Good thing I like ’em on the feisty side.”</p>
<p>    She immediately knew that she was gonna have to fight the typical submissive demeanor of her people’s women and give as good as she got.</p>
<p>    “Let’s take this inside before the neighbors call the cops–and I get kicked out–for giving them a show they’ll never forget,” the young male told her.</p>
<p>    “I’d rather not give your neighbors any kinda show,” Dylan laughed as he moved to unlock his front door.</p>
<p>    “I’d rather not either, but I’m almost too horny to think straight,” he said as he opened the flimsy portal.</p>
<p>    “I know the feeling,” the strange young woman agreed, grateful for the Knowledge she’d taken from Rikki, which told her that being horny was the same thing as being aroused.</p>
<p>    Almost as soon as the portal was closed and locked behind them, Richie Began a far more furious onslaught of her person. They both tripped over various objects as much as their own feet, and clothes went flying in every possible Direction known to any being. His shirt wound up across the back of the couch, her britches on the table used for dining, both their underwear fuck-only-knew where. By the Time they made it to a room outfitted with what Rikki’d called a bed, a smaller table on either side of it, they were both completely nude and pressed flush against each other.</p>
<p>    The young male grinned deviously as he scooped her up against his chest, then gently chucked her onto the bed that Dominated this room. Dylan couldn’t help a soft, surprised squeal as she momentarily flew through the Air, then landed on something softer than she’d ever felt before. Even as he kicked another portal shut and joined her with an almost-predatory look in his eyes, she couldn’t help but revel in the softness beneath her.</p>
<p>    Before she knew it, the strange young woman was pinned on her back as he all but lay flush atop her, their torsos pressed together. She could feel his impressive protuberance all too well as it prodded her, pressing insistently at her now-soaked opening. At least she’d already been mounted once before, so his entering her wouldn’t hurt like her only Time with a male before the last one of reproductive age on her home Planet’d been blown into the methane Sea.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t long before Richie broke yet another kiss and pushed himself up so that he knelt between her spread thighs. As he reached toward one of the tables next to his bed, she suddenly got the feeling that he was about to do something to prevent conception. Since her whole Intent wasta conceive a child, she was quick to distract him from his purpose by catching him off-guard when she rolled him onto his back. He seemed to like that, though, as the action served its Intended purpose and made him let out a guttural growl. At least he wouldn’t try to stop her from conceiving by reaching into that small table for whatever it was that he’d meant to grab only moments ago.</p>
<p>    <em>“Ohhhh,”</em> Dylan moaned as she sank down onto his shaft.</p>
<p>    “Fuck me,” the young male groaned, his hands moving to grip her hips.</p>
<p>    She couldn’t help a mewl as he pulled her into a position that allowed him to push in even deeper than he already was.</p>
<p>    “You’re so tight,” Richie growled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear ya were a virgin.”</p>
<p>    The strange young woman wasn’t thinking clearly enough to call on her new Knowledge and figure out what he meant as she leaned forward to grab his shoulders.</p>
<p>    “C’mon, baby girl–ride me like a bronco,” he told her as he pulled his hips back into the bed.</p>
<p>    Dylan mewled once again as she allowed him to guide her hips so they rose, then sank back down onto him.</p>
<p>    “There we go, that’s it,” the young male said once she caught on to his rhythm.</p>
<p>    Before long, Dylan was starting to lose steam since keeping up the rhythm of mating was harder than the males males of any race made it look. Luckily, this one seemed particularly understanding as he lifted her up so he slid completely outta her most intimate region. She couldn’t help a displeased whine, knowing it couldn’t be over already since she was pretty sure neither of them’d found pleasure yet.</p>
<p>    Richie laughed as he used his weight to basically throw her over sideways, which allowed him to sit up so he could move back to his knees. Once in that position, he rolled her over so she was face-down, her legs spread only enough for him to see what he was doing. He then moved so he was straddling her thighs, his own seemingly hard as Granite as he pulled her hips up slightly to aid him. It was only then that he pressed his burgeoning tip against her drenched opening and pushed into her again, quickly filling her so she could feel him in her belly with ease.</p>
<p>    Another moan was muffled by his pillow as he picked up the rhythm he’d been using before, only a bit faster this Time. The strange young woman couldn’t help clamping down on him this Time, her eyes rolling back in her head as his shaft hit some decidedly delicious spots. He coulda grabbed her by the throat and squeezed till the Life drained outta said eyes, and she couldn’t have said she’d care. All she cared about at the current moment was that this mating continued, and that it led to far more than just their mutual pleasure.</p>
<p>    Not long after their Change in position, Dylan’s pleasure finally built to a fever pitch, and she couldn’t take it anymore, if she tried. Sucking in a deep breath, she came undone with a muffled screech that could only be out-done by the Mythical Banshee. However, that seemed to please and even set off the young male ploughing her from behind, judging by his reaction moments later. With a muffled, triumphant roar that was only muffled by his biting her shoulder, he thrust into her as deep as he could aside from bucking gently through his pleasure. She could feel him throbbing within her depths the same way he could no doubt feel her pulsing around his shaft, so she knew what he was doing.</p>
<p>    “Jesus…fuckin’…Christ,” Richie panted once they’d gone limp and had a few momentsta recover.</p>
<p>    The strange young woman still wasn’t quite with it enough to be verbal aside from mewling.</p>
<p>    “I know I’m only sixteen, but I’ve never had sex quite <em>that</em> good before,” he chuckled, twitching within her as he slowly softened.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmmm,</em> neither’ve I,” Dylan finally managed to say. She wasn’t about to tell him this was only the second Time she’d ever been mounted.</p>
<p>    “Shit,” the young male hissed as he finally slipped out. “I can’t believe I letcha distract me so that I forgot to use a rubber.”</p>
<p>    Dylan called on her new Knowledge for that explanation as she rolled onto her back once he moved. “Long as you’ve no critters, neither do I, so I think we’re good.”</p>
<p>    “And what if ya get pregnant?” he asked. “I dunno about you, but I’m too young for kids, even though I’m emancipated.”</p>
<p>    The strange young woman didn’t know what that last word meant, but she pretended that she did. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen, but who cares? It’s almost always the female who does the rearing.”</p>
<p>    “’Cuz I’m not letting my kid suffer through barely having enough to eat, ’cuz I couldn’t afford to feed them,” he retorted with a frown.</p>
<p>    Sensing that this was about to get outta hand, she was quick to use her Power in a different way as she sat up and pulled him against her. “I’m pretty sure ya won’t have to worry about that.”</p>
<p>    Not giving Richie a chanceta question her, she pressed their foreheads together like she’d done to Rikki right after he’d taken her inside that other dwelling. With the psychic pathway between them now open, she managed to Calm him down to what amounted to a trance-like state. He was completely paralyzed so he couldn’t pull away from her too soon and at her Mercy, but at least she didn’t Intend to hurt him.</p>
<p>    For some reason she couldn’t Begin to explain, she felt compelled to not only leave this young male’s memories intact, but to give him a way to find her later. The ability to trace Energy so he could track her down’d only be temporary–it’d fade and disappear once he’d used it since it wasn’t like she was taking him as a Lifemate. But it’d be available to him either till then, or he came to the decision that he didn’t Wish to see her again after tonight–whichever scenario came first. However, it wasn’t a decision she made lightly since giving him that ability–even temporarily–would tell him that something wasn’t quite right about her and doubtless make him start asking questions that’d be hard to answer.</p>
<p>    With that ability bestowed upon him, Dylan used her Power to essentially weave a sleep spell around him while he was still Entranced. After such a long and arduous Day, she was simply too tired to deal with answering even the simplest of questions right now. Since she also had no Intentions of staying, now that she’d gotten his seed, she definitely didn’t want him to be awake when she left. It was simply better that he be asleep and think he’d been Dreaming when he first woke the next Morn as she made her escape.</p>
<p>    Once Richie’d let out a telltale sigh that told her he was asleep, the strange young woman quickly, but gently tucked him into his bed. He didn’t move a muscle other than to readjust his head slightly so he could breathe better, which told her that the coast was clear. It was only then that she rose and headed outta the room he’d taken her to, pausing to collect each of her garments and don them on her way to the front door. Luckily, her Power allowed her to lock the portal behind herself, then Begin the task of tracing Morgana so she could find her way back to her new home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bobby happened to be the one outside when Dylan got within sight of the Beach house, although he didn’t see her before <em>she</em> saw <em>him.</em> He’d been forced to give his drummer a couple doses of Benadryl just so he’d go to sleep, ’cuz he’d turned into a worry-wart of the bad persuasion. Even Morgana hadn’t been able to get him to settle down, Neptunian Power or no–not that he’d exactly let her close enough to try such a thing to Begin with, that is.</p>
<p>    When he spotted the figure in the distance, the bassist cautiously headed off the patio and onto the Sand at its edge. At first, he hadn’t been sure that this was the person he’d been waiting up for, but he was quickly reassured once she got close enough for the edges of the patio Light to illuminate. Other than a flush about her features that hadn’t been there earlier, and looking pleasantly exhausted and disheveled, she looked just fine.</p>
<p>    Dylan actually shot him a smile once he got close enough to grab her for a hug, which was as much to greet her as reassure himself that she really was okay. She actually laughed as they parted, which allowed him to steer her onto the patio where the Light was a lil brighter and he could see her better. Just as he’d suspected, she looked no worse for wear, other than looking tired, disheveled, and flushed compared to that afternoon and Eve before she’d taken off.</p>
<p>    “Well, looks like somebody else got laid tonight,” Bobby chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shouldersta steer her inside.</p>
<p>    “Got laid?” the strange young woman queried, her brow furrowing in confusion.</p>
<p>    “Uh, same thing as mating, darlin’,” he explained. “Humans’ve a lotta phrases for that act.”</p>
<p>    “Humans’re weird,” Dylan mused. “First Rikki saying that his mating with me–even though I wanted it–was illegal, then the other one being worried about child-rearing like he was a female.”</p>
<p>    “Well, that’s ’cuz humans’ve evolved so we do things differently,” the bassist explained, glad to see Morgana at the breakfast nook when they got inside.</p>
<p>    “I toldja she’d be fine,” said sister chuckled. “And that she’d find her way back on her own, no matter how far away she wandered.”</p>
<p>    “Ya can explain that one in a minute, or after we get some sleep,” Bobby told her. “Actually, might be better to wait till we get some sleep so the rest of the guys’re up and can hear it, too.”</p>
<p>    The strange woman nodded her agreement as she finished off the weak coffee she’d been nursing.</p>
<p>    “For now, both of ya need some explanations for things Dylan apparently ran into tonight,” he said.</p>
<p>    Settling at the small table so they flanked him, he popped the top on a beer bottle, which he sipped as he collected his Thoughts. He decided that it was prolly best to start with the first situation that the younger of the sisters’d encountered that Night. No doubt that’d be easier to explain compared to human evolution, especially since he was tired and had alcohol in his system, too.</p>
<p>    Both sisters were enthralled as he explained that, much like Neptunians, humans’d their drawbacks when it came to sleeping with children. He made it clear that he’d have honestly thought both of them were grown, based on the way they acted, but a lotta human teenagers could seem that way, too. For that reason, there were laws against an adult fuckin’ a teenager that was meant to protect them in both a physical sense <em>and</em> a mental one. Just ’cuz they were physically capable of mating and conceiving didn’t necessarily mean they were ready for it mentally and Emotionally.</p>
<p>    Morgana nodded as she mused that it was similar to Neptunians not allowing their children to mate in the physical sense till the human age of thirteen. They could pleasure themselves all they wanted, even use their handsta pleasure each other, but genital-on-genital contact was forbidden before that crucial age. And even once they reached that age, their first two or three matings were supervised by at least one parent of one of the involved partiesta ensure no one got hurt.</p>
<p>    “Well, humans don’t tend to wanna watch their kids go at it–or their parents, for that matter,” the bassist laughed. “To us, that’s just gross, ’cuz sex’s a private matter between those physically involved.”</p>
<p>    “Huh,” she grunted, a thoughtful look on her face.</p>
<p>    “I mean, using us as an example,” Bobby said. “If it’d been broad Daylight, I wouldn’t have fucked you unless we threw Bret outta the bedroom he’s sharing with us and locked the door.”</p>
<p>    “Really?” Even her sister seemed surprised, and for a couple different reasons.</p>
<p>    “Well, first of all, it’s illegal to even be nekkid on the Beach we wound up on,” he explained. “I mean, there <em>are</em> some Beaches that allow nudity, but most don’t. And even if that’d been one that <em>did,</em> I wouldn’t have wanted to when and where other people could see.”</p>
<p>    <em>“Ohhhh,”</em> they breathed nodding.</p>
<p>    “But a lotta guys’re like that–they don’t want others watching or hearing, ’cuz it can make it too hard for them to relax and show physical arousal,” the bassist continued.</p>
<p>    “So, going back to the Beginning,” the older of the sisters said. “Rikki refused Dylan’s advances, ’cuz human laws say she’s not ready to be mounted?”</p>
<p>    Bobby chuckled as he took another swig of his beer before answering since he’d already raised the amber bottle to his lips. Once he’d swallowed and wouldn’t be at risk of choking, he clarified what he’d meant, which wasn’t necessarily that Dylan wasn’t ready for sex. Since she’d no parent who could say otherwise–only an older sister who could be considered her legal guardian–she could make such a decision on her own. However, it was better that she find a partner her own age, rather than one who was as old as the drummer was. Finding a partner her own age was kinda the same as two thirteen-Year-olds going at it within their own culture back on Neptune, but there could be exceptions.</p>
<p>    The strange young woman’s eyes widened when he used a variant of the word used by the young male she’d mated with just a couple hours ago. He said that even at sixteen, if a teenager’d gone through the emancipation process, they were legally considered adults by the gov’ment. For that reason, they’d to follow the same rules and laws as any other adult with the exception of smoking and drinking. That could potentially complicate matters when it came to two sixteen-Year-olds going at it, but that wasn’t always the case.</p>
<p>    Dylan finally spoke up and said that the young male she’d mated with’d used the word emancipated, but she hadn’t known what it meant. She hadn’t quite been with it enough after mating to sift through the Knowledge she’d taken from Rikki to get the answer. Having no Intention to stick around, especially after he’d started reaming her out for distracting him outta using a rubber–whatever that meant–she hadn’t bothered asking him to define the word he’d used before putting him to sleep.</p>
<p>    “His being emancipated means he’s one of those teenagers that’s considered an adult by our gov’ment,” Bobby explained. “It means that his parents no longer take care of him in a financial sense, ’cuz he’s Independent of them, and he can make certain decisions on his own.”</p>
<p>    <em>“Ohhhh.”</em> The younger of the sisters nodded as she got it.</p>
<p>    “You, on the other hand–you’d be considered under your sister’s guardianship since you’re underage, but have no parents present, if ya were human,” he said.</p>
<p>    “Which means I’d be in charge of providing for her and making certain decisions on her behalf, right?” Morgana asked.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmmm hmmm.”</em> The bassist nodded as he killed off his beer. “If ya decided that this guy’d no business fuckin’ your sister, even though they’re the same age, ya could do something called pressing charges.”</p>
<p>    “What’s that mean?” she asked.</p>
<p>    “Basically, letting law enforcement take him away so he’d have to answer for what he did,” Bobby answered.</p>
<p>    “So, it’d be like Neptunians taking someone to the dungeons, never to be seen again?” the older of the sisters queried.</p>
<p>    “Kinda. Depending on the crime committed, some folks’ll eventually get outta prison–others get sentenced to Life, meaning that they’ll stay locked up till they die,” he answered. “Others still get sentenced to Death, meaning they’ll be executed while they’re in prison instead of being released or kept locked up till they die on their own.”</p>
<p>    Even Dylan was looking interested, but still like she’d other questions on her mind.</p>
<p>    Unable to help a chuckle as he roseta dispose of his beer bottle, he moved on to the second situation she’d encountered after running off. He started at the Beginning and explained that like Neptunians, humans’d once been hunters and gatherers in the distant Past. The males’d gone out hunting for meat to feed their families once their race’d evolved enough that they were useful for more than just breeding the females.</p>
<p>    At the same Time, those same females bore and reared their young in addition to gathering herbs and other useful plants. In some cultures–such as the Celts and Vikings–men and women were considered more or less equal much like they were now. Both genders’d fight battles during War and pull their weight in child-rearing in those cultures, rather than being so clearly divided based on their gender. Some women were actually better at hunting, while some men proved to be better with the children, and there were plenty of other similar examples that could be used.</p>
<p>    Shooting her a reassuring smile, Bobby explained to the younger of the sisters in particular that the guy she’d mated with likely wouldn’t have reamed her out due to anything personal toward her. ’Cuz humans’d evolved to work together when it came to making and raising families, he’d have been concerned about her conceiving for the same reasons he was concerned about Morgana conceiving. He prolly didn’t consider himself ready for a family of his own, even though he was physically capable of starting one.</p>
<p>    Nodding, Dylan sighed as she slumped in her chair, a hand resting on her lower belly as she said that it was too late to be worrying about that. Provided that she didn’t lose this child, she already knew she’d conceived, even though it couldn’t have been more than three hours since Richie’d planted his seed. Among the special abilities possessed by their people, sensing conception the very moment it happened was one of the most special. It’d still take Time for her to show any physical symptoms–such as sickness a few weeks in and her belly growing rounder–but she was still pregnant, all the same. That much was confirmed when her sister gently touched her belly and felt a second, weaker Energy signature that didn’t belong to her.</p>
<p>    “It’s a female,” Morgana said with a tender smile.</p>
<p>    “I thought so,” she chuckled. “This confirms it.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, ya can already tell the baby’s gender, even though she literally just conceived?” the bassist asked, his eyes the size of dinner plates.</p>
<p>    “It’s but one of our abilities,” Dylan laughed. “I was just unsure, ’cuz I’m not trained in these Arts like she is.”</p>
<p>    Her sister grinned at him as she removed her hand. “She means caring for an expectant mother and her infant before Birth, as well as the delivery of said infant.”</p>
<p>    “Pretty sure that’s called midwifery here on Earth,” Bobby chuckled. “I’d have to ask my mom or sister to be sure, though, since they both work in Healthcare and I’ma musician.”</p>
<p>    It wasn’t long before he couldn’t hold back his yawns anymore, and both sisters seemed to be just as tired as he was. And like any expectant mother–even this soon into pregnancy–the younger of those sisters needed all the fuel and rest she could get. Since she amazingly wasn’t hungry and he wasn’t feeling up to cooking right now, he focused on the getting rest angle due to it being easier.</p>
<p>    Not wanting to disturb Rikki or CC, the bassist decided on putting these two in the bed he’d been using for the past couple Nights. It wouldn’t exactly be fun, but he was willing to sleep on the floor since there wasn’t enough room for all three of them and he wasn’t about to crawl into bed with Bret. They both seemed a bit unsure about that, neither of them wanting him to be uncomfortable, but he assured them he’d be fine. He Intended it to be for the one Night, then they’d figure out sleeping arrangements for at least the rest of the week since he didn’t wanna get too far ahead of himself.</p>
<p>    Bobby sighed as he settled on a pallet next to the bed he’d claimed once the strange sisters were abed and tucked in for the Night. It’d been a long, exhausting Day and Night for all involved, and no doubt things weren’t gonna get easier anytime soon. After all, the guys were supposed to be going on tour the following week, so they were gonna have to figure out what to do with these two when they did. He didn’t let those Thoughts keep him awake, though, given that he’d be a monster the next Day, if he didn’t get enough sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finding out that Dylan’d somehow managed to find her way back when he woke the following Morn Soothed Rikki’s nerves like nothing else could. He didn’t believe Bret at first when he swore she appeared to be perfectly fine, that she was dead to the World next to her big sister. Wanting to see it for himself, he’d gently pushed past the shorter blonde and into the bedroom he’d been sharing with their bassist. A heavy sigh of relief’d burst outta his lungs when he’d found said sisters curled up together, Morgana behind Dylan so that she was spooning her, said bassist curled up in the floor next to the bed they were in.</p>
<p>    Now reassured about her safety, the drummer’d headed back to the kitchen to get started on his typical Morn routine. First things first was getting coffee in his system, and that was especially true after a Day and Night like the ones immediately previous. In addition to just having a lot to wrap his head around, he’d a few beers on top of whatever Bobby’d all but force-fed him to knock him out.</p>
<p>    He and the other pair of blondes were startled when someone knocked on the front door just as their lone brunette friend shuffled into the kitchen with a yawn. Their manager knew they were taking a bit of a vacation before hitting the road, so they doubted it’d be her who’d shown up. None of them could even Begin to guess who else it woulda been as he cautiously approached the door since they thought it unlikely that the cops from yesterday woulda had a reason to Return.</p>
<p>    “Uh, can I help you, kid?” Rikki asked, cocking a brow upon opening the door to find an obvious teenager.</p>
<p>    “Is there a girl named Dylan here?” the teen countered, a mixture of Emotions coloring his voice.</p>
<p>    “Depends,” he said, propping a shoulder against the doorjamb. “Whaddaya want with her, if there is?”</p>
<p>    “Met her last Night, and she and I’ve unfinished business,” the teen told him.</p>
<p>    “I’d suggest watching your step,” the drummer warned, moving to let him in. “’Cuz whether your name’s Jack or Asshat, you’ve four other guys and a protective big sister to deal with, if ya don’t.”</p>
<p>    “My name’s Richie,” he said as he stepped inside.</p>
<p>    “Rikki,” said blonde responded, closing the door behind him. “The other blondes’re Bret and CC, the brunette’s Bobby.”</p>
<p>    “A pleasure,” Richie told them, nodding to the others. “So, where’s Dylan at?”</p>
<p>    “Lemme go get her and her sister up,” Bobby told him, biting back a yawn till he’d finished his sentence. “Left them asleep when I got up since we weren’t expecting anyone to show up today.”</p>
<p>    Nodding, the teenager kept his back to the nearest wall as he contented himself with waiting patiently since he’d no other choices. Even the shortest of the blondes–who said that he was CC–was clearly older than he was, which meant he was prolly stronger. He wasn’t in the business of getting into fights more than he absolutely had to, and he wasn’t about to Change that habit now with these guys.</p>
<p>    Just a couple minutes later, the brunette Returned with a young woman tucked under each of his arms and pulled against his sides. They both looked similar to one another, and Richie straightened a bit as he recognized the one he’d met outside the Whisky. Clearly, she’d just woken up as much as the woman who was apparently her sister, ’cuz they looked even less alert than the man between them. He almost didn’t wanna draw her attention to him just yet, but there was another part of him that knew he needed to. Their unfinished business wasn’t gonna finish itself, and part of him was pissed at her for running off like she had after their romp.</p>
<p>    “Well, good Morn to you, too, Sleeping Beauty,” he said, a hint of sarcasm coloring his voice.</p>
<p>    The strange young woman’s head snapped up from where it’d been resting against the other man’s chest, her eyes now wide open.</p>
<p>    “I dunno what the hell ya did before I passed out last Night, but we’ve unfinished business,” Richie said, pushing himself away from the wall he’d been leaning against.</p>
<p>    “I figured as much,” she sighed as she pulled away from Bobby. “But I dunno where to Begin, or quite how to put it.”</p>
<p>    “How about whatever ya did when ya pressed our foreheads together and I couldn’t move even my pinky?” the teen suggested.</p>
<p>    “Dylan, no, ya didn’t!” The other woman seemed shocked awake as she gaped at her.</p>
<p>    “I’d to do <em>something,</em> sister!” Dylan retorted with a glare. “He was getting too worked-up for me to handle!”</p>
<p>    Even the other guys looked bewildered as she unleashed on her in something that they’d have called Gibberish.</p>
<p>    “Just wait it out, kid,” the older brunette chuckled. “Not much we can do besides that, I’m afraid.”</p>
<p>    Nodding, Richie simply accepted the coffee mug he handed him, watching the sisters bicker back and forth at each other for what felt like hours. Eventually, they settled down so that they weren’t having a screaming match anymore, but one still looked almost furious while the other looked sheepish. He didn’t know what the fuck he’d just witnessed, and now he was suddenly unsure of whether he wanted to or not.</p>
<p>    Turning to the youngest male, the sister he didn’t recognize introduced herself as Morgana and offered her apologies for that particular exchange. As she settled at the table so that her hips were nestled between Bobby’s thighs, she claimed that her baby sister’d done something she considered unwise. She said that he’d have to bear with her, ’cuz she wasn’t entirely sure that her explanation’d make any sense, no matter how she phrased it. He took that as meaning that English wasn’t their first language, which made him nod as he sipped the coffee he’d been given.</p>
<p>    Morgana wasn’t too sure how wise it’d be to bare all to this young male, but she knew they were gonna have to, like it or not. She could already feel the similarities between him and her newly-conceived niece, so she knew without question that he was the child’s father. Due to her sister’s unwise impulse before leaving his dwelling, he’d a choice that he now needed to make for himself. Hopefully, he’d show a lil more Wisdom than Dylan’d shown and use logic, rather than allow his Emotionsta cloud his judgment.</p>
<p>    “Be warned that if ya react badly, I’ll be forced to take drastic measures,” she told him.</p>
<p>    “At least leave my body where it’ll be easily-found so my parents can bury me, if you’re talking about killing me,” Richie said.</p>
<p>    “No, I don’t mean Death,” the older of the sisters chuckled. “I mean erasing your memories so–as far as you’re concerned–it’ll be like Dylan and I never existed.”</p>
<p>    He looked a bit freaked-out at that Thought, and the rest of the guys didn’t blame him.</p>
<p>    “Starting at the very Beginning, we’re not human–we’re Neptunian,” Morgana told him.</p>
<p>    “I call bullshit only ’cuz scientists haven’t even found evidence of Life on Mars yet,” the teen said, a skeptical look on his face.</p>
<p>    “I’d believe it, kid,” Rikki gently interjected. “’Cuz you’re not the only one they’ve done that weird forehead thing to.”</p>
<p>    His jaw dropped as even Bobby nodded his agreement.</p>
<p>    “They couldn’t understand us when they first crash-landed, so they basically stole the Knowledge of how to speak English from the two of us,” he explained.</p>
<p>    “Felt like they stuck straws in our heads and started sucking on them with their brains,” his friend said.</p>
<p>    “Don’t forget that we were limp as rag dolls and couldn’t move a muscle other than breathing,” the bassist reminded him.</p>
<p>    “That’s ’cuz if you’d pulled back too soon due to being freaked out, you’d have left us all blithering idiots, as ya say in your tongue,” the older of the sisters explained.</p>
<p>    “But in being unable to Communicate with ya, we <em>had</em> to paralyze ya to keep ya still,” Dylan added.</p>
<p>    With that part explained so that Richie understood it was one of their ways of Communicating and exchanging information, the older sister turned her attention back to him. She quickly explained their reasons for having wanted to find a new Planet to live on, even the trio of blondes listening Intently. They’d all been just as curious as their friends, but hadn’t gotten the chanceta ask her any questions after dinner the Night previous.</p>
<p>    Bobby held up a hand to gently cut off the berating he was undoubtedly about to give Dylan when her sister got to the part about finding malesta mate with. He told him that they were essentially like young children and still learning about human culture, that of Americans in particular. They hadn’t talked about this part before she’d run off, so she was used to things being done hunter-gatherer style. On her Planet, things were done in a far more Primal sense than what any of them were used to, and she hadn’t known how to explain any of thista him so it’d make sense.</p>
<p>    It was pretty obvious that the youngest male was upset at having been used for his sperm, and none of the other guys blamed him for feeling that way. They admitted that they wouldn’t have liked finding themselves in such a scenario either, so they totally got where he was coming from. Looking at the pair of sisters, the bassist explained that while mating and reproducing was normal to humans, they preferred having a special bond with their child’s other parent, not just being used for reproductive purposes.</p>
<p>    Morgana looked thoughtful as she considered his words, then finally admitted that she hadn’t taken a Lifemate yet ’cuz she wanted more than just to be bred repeatedly. Before the last reproductive-age male of her people’d met his End, she’d wanted a male that was at least fond of and willing to take care of her. She wanted the same for any children that were produced by such a union, rather than having to worry about their father mistreating them and her. Not all of her people’s women felt that way–some were willing to put up with such abuse, or were the <em>love-’em-and-leave-’em</em> type–but she wasn’t one of those women. She couldn’t and wouldn’t speak for her sister, though, and that was simply ’cuz they were two completely different people.</p>
<p>    “Kinda Wish it’d been <em>you</em> I’d met last Night,” Richie grumbled. “’Cuz while I think sixteen’s a bit too young for having kids, emancipated or not, that’s the kinda things <em>I</em> want, too.”</p>
<p>    “Well, no offense, but I’m more attracted to Bobby,” she laughed. “And he feels the same way you do, but he’s twenty-two.”</p>
<p>    “Hey, I wouldn’t force ya to fuck me,” the teen chuckled. “I’m not looking to get slapped with a rape charge, and besides, willing partners’re more fun.”</p>
<p>    “He means that he doesn’t wanna go to prison like we were talking about before we went to bed, no matter how old he is,” Bobby explained when the sisters looked confused. “’Cuz to rape someone means that they’re mounted when they don’t wanna be.”</p>
<p>    The younger of the sisters suddenly looked sheepish, especially when she looked up at Rikki.</p>
<p>    “I’m willing to be forgiving since you’re still learning about our ways,” said drummer told her. “But I’m still not Changing my mind about what I said last Night since I don’t wanna go to prison any more than I think Richie’d wanna.”</p>
<p>    Dylan grumbled under her breath, but didn’t try to argue with him. “Like I said last Night, if you wouldn’t, I’d find someone who would–and I did.”</p>
<p>    “And I’m still not happy about being used for just my sperm,” the youngest male told her. “I don’t care if you’re Neptunian, Jovian, Martian, or from right here on Earth.”</p>
<p>    “Maybe I shoulda found a different male to mate with–or at least not leftcha with even the temporary ability to track me down!” she retorted. “’Cuz you’re starting to seem like a bad Influence for the daughter I carry!”</p>
<p>    Richie’s jaw dropped in shock as much as those of the blondes did, his eyes widening so much that they were sure to pop outta their sockets. The bassist gently reprimanded her about making such an announcement to him in such a shocking manner, whether she’d just conceived or was already showing symptoms. She coulda been far more gentle about it, considering that–if they could manage to fake paperwork for the sisters that’d make the gov’ment <em>think</em> they were American citizens–this could fuel any court battle he decided to start in an attempt to take the child from her once it was born.</p>
<p>    Bobby looked up at him and advised against doing such a thing, though, and it wasn’t ’cuz he didn’t wanna see him do anything rash or spiteful. The teen cocked a brow and told him to give him one good reason not to even try, considering that the younger of the sisters didn’t strike him as mother material already. If he could manage to do that, he’d his word that–love or hate her–he wouldn’t be that spiteful to the strange young woman.</p>
<p>    Leveling a bit of a stern look on him, he told the teenager to think logically, rather than Emotionally for more than a split second. They didn’t really know much about Neptunians, and he meant in more than just how their culture operated when he said that. For all they knew, this newly-conceived child could inherit her mother’s telepathic abilities, even though she’d be half-human. Was there any chance in Hell that he’d be able to handle such a thing without the help of her mother, or even her aunt?</p>
<p>    Thinking about it like that, Richie sighed as he was forced to admit that the older brunette’d a very solid point there. He didn’t know how the hell he’d be able to handle a child of either gender, if they possessed that kinda ability since he didn’t know the first thing about it. Parenting already wasn’t a cake walk with a full-blooded human child, and he refused to take his chances with something like that. Still, he turned a sharp look on Dylan and warned her that she wasn’t completely cutting him outta this child’s Life. Whether she delivered in nine Days or nine months, he was just as much this child’s parent, and he Intended to take Responsibility for his youthful, hormone-driven stupidity. After all, he’d been raised better than that, and his own parents’d kill him for abandoning his child just ’cuz he didn’t consider himself ready to be a father.</p>
<p>    It seemed that the rest of the group was proud of him for being willing to take Responsibility for his part in the matter, but none more so than Morgana. They didn’t realize that her baby sister’d always been a lil too impulsive for her own good, and therefore could use someone to put her on a figurative leash. She thought that if this young gun could get her under at least a lil bit of Control by putting his foot down on this issue, he’d be good for her in other ways. Dylan didn’t seem to agree, but none of them were willing to crack open <em>that</em> can of worms since at least her sister wasn’t forcing her to take him as a Lifemate. Now, they just had to figure out what to do with these two once the tour started in addition to preparing for a baby.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Within a couple Days, it was officially decided that Morgana and Dylan were gonna be joining Poison on what they considered their maiden tour. Aside from wanting to let them see and learn about other parts of human culture, they didn’t exactly know what elseta do with them. Neither knew how to cook on these strange new appliances, meaning they’d prolly hurt themselves or burn something down by trying. They’d no money to speak of, so it wasn’t like they could solve that particular problem simply by eating out the whole Time the band and their crew was gone. And to top all those reasons off, Richie couldn’t do shit to help them out since he couldn’t afford a place of his own yet, and there wasn’t anymore room where he was currently living.</p>
<p>    It didn’t take even half the Time it took for them to make that decision before the teenage male was proving how incredibly stubborn he was. Even though he was in the middle of finishing up his first solo album since he, too was a musician, he fully Intended to take on every shift he possibly could at his Day job. Not even working doubles was gonna be a problem for him, no matter how exhausted he wound up as a result of working so hard.</p>
<p>    Dylan still wasn’t entirely sure he was actually gonna pull his weight when it came to her and the child that hadn’t even implanted in her womb. The only Neptunian she’d been mounted by before leaving her home Planet’d a reputation for mounting anything that moved and taking off immediately afterward. As far as she knew, he’d at least twelve children with as many different women running around, and he wasn’t slowing down anytime soon. Not only that, but he didn’t do a damn thing to provide a single thing for any of those children–it all fell on their mothers, who’d struggled to survive on their own. She’d absolutely no reason to think this Earthling was gonna be any different, and she made that clear from the Day he’d tracked her down. If he wanted her to Change her mind about him and have a better opinion, he was gonna have to prove it to her and then some.</p>
<p>    The others all understood her hang-up with him and not trusting him to stick around, but they also thought she was being a lil ridiculous. Even when Richie’d shown up with suppliesta help with their care, the strange young woman’d all but turned up her nose and spurned him. He’d simply shrugged and said that Morgana could have the feminine clothing he’d brought, and that he’d only make sure she didn’t starve ’cuz she carried his child. Given the way she was acting toward him, he wouldn’t have cared, had she not been pregnant, to be honest.</p>
<p>    Having already sensed his warring displeasure with and attraction toward her, Bobby took him out on a walk down the Beach. Making sure even his band mates stayed at the house with their unexpected charges, he Intended to let the poor kid rant and rave to his heart’s content. After that, he Intended to at least try getting through his thick skull and reminding him that these two’d a lotta adjustmentsta make. It wasn’t just about proving the strange young woman’s opinion of him wrong–she’d to essentially rewire her entire brain. She’d to get used to living in a way that was similar to what she was used to, but at the same Time, vastly different.</p>
<p>    “I mean, what the fuck am I supposed to do to make this crazy bitch happy?” Richie asked as they wandered down the Beach barefoot. “She seemsta rebuff everything I throw at her so far!”</p>
<p>    “I know, I know, kid,” the bassist told him. “Even if I don’t witness it for myself, Morgana tells me about it.”</p>
<p>    “Dylan didn’t strike me as the materialistic type that Day I tracked her down, but now I’m starting to wonder,” he admitted.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, she <em>does</em> seem like she’s gonna have some expensive tastes,” Bobby agreed, nodding.</p>
<p>    “Tastes I’m not gonna have a Hope in Hell of fulfilling till at least my second or third album,” the teen sighed. “Hell, I might not even be able to then.”</p>
<p>    “That’s assuming she’s actually materialistic at heart,” he told him. “It could be one of her lil teststa prove your Sincerity and commitment to not just her, but the baby.”</p>
<p>    Richie looked over at him, and his expression was thoughtful.</p>
<p>    “I mean, the more expensive whatcha get her, the more it shows you’re busting your assta take care of her,” the bassist clarified.</p>
<p>    “Which means there’s a chance she might not stay like this forever,” he mused.</p>
<p>    “My point exactly.” Bobby nodded, enjoying feeling the breaking Waves on his feet as they walked. “She could very well be satisfied with just about anything ya give her once she’s assured you’re not gonna be like the guy who was Graced with her virginity.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, what?” the teen queried, his eyes widening as he jerked to a sudden halt.</p>
<p>    “Ya didn’t know, didja?” he countered with a chuckle.</p>
<p>    Richie thought he’d an idea of what he meant, but he wasn’t entirely sure.</p>
<p>    “Morgana told me that her Night with you’s only the second Time she’s ever had sex in her Life,” the bassist explained. “Well, she put it as <em>only the second Time she’d ever been mounted,</em> but same difference.”</p>
<p>    “Ya gotta be fuckin’ shitting me,” he groaned as they started walking again. “Fuck, it’s no Wonder she’s giving me such a hard Time.”</p>
<p>    Nodding again, Bobby told him that what made it all the more unfortunate was that Dylan’d conceived a child with that other guy, too. She’d been ecstatic and eager to share her news, only for him to laugh in her face and spurn her in front of a group of his friends. He’d no doubt that’d screw with any woman’s or girl’s psyche, but especially if the female in question was only thirteen or fourteen like she’d been at the Time.</p>
<p>    As if that wasn’t enough, though, her story grew increasingly tragic from there and certainly explained even more about how she thought. When the daughter she’d conceived before was born, she’d been a sickly child, and taking care of her wasn’t easy for even a seasoned mother. Having only her sister to help provide for all three of them barely made things any easier, but what’d been right around the corner was even worse. Richie almost didn’t wanna know what coulda possibly happened next that woulda affected her so profoundly at least a couple Years later.</p>
<p>    Heaving a sigh, the bassist told him that before Dylan’s daughter’d even made it to an Earth Year old, her Health’d finally gone down the shitter. The last Time she’d gotten sick was literally the last Time–the poor girl’d slowly deteriorated till she finally died in her mother’s arms, her lil fists wrapped around her favorite necklace and a hank of her hair. Again, it wasn’t something he’d have Wished on anyone, but especially not someone who was practically a baby in their own right.</p>
<p>    The teen was absolutely horrified as he processed that, his Sea-blue eyes ready to pop outta their sockets once again as a hand roseta cover his gaping mouth. Now that he knew that about her, he realized that pretty much everything she was throwing out at him likely wasn’t her true personality–it was her Fear talking. She no doubt Feared that she was gonna lose not only another child, but another daughter, and she was taking that Fear out on him. His being this child’s father only painted an even bigger Bull’s-eye on his ass when it came to being her biggest target outta those currently surrounding her. Even if she lashed out at the others occasionally, she was gonna lash out at him worse and more often than anyone else.</p>
<p>    “Maybe keeping her here with me and just working seven Days a week instead of doubles’d be a better idea,” Richie said.</p>
<p>    “You’re not gonna be able to make as much money that way,” the bassist reminded him.</p>
<p>    “As long as I’m doing as much as I can, Mom and Dad’ll help me out,” he said. “They’re not gonna be happy about me being a teen daddy, but they’re not gonna leave us to starve, as long as I don’t do anything stupid like abandon them.”</p>
<p>    “Hey, ya know your folks better than I do,” Bobby laughed. “Hell, I barely know <em>you,</em> if I’m honest.”</p>
<p>    “True enough,” the teen agreed.</p>
<p>    “Butcha already remind me a lotta myself when I was sixteen,” he admitted. “Driven, committed, and stubborn to your very marrow with strong roots and a bit of a temper when ya feel like it.”</p>
<p>    “I can’t deny any of those points and be telling the Truth,” Richie chuckled.</p>
<p>    “That’ll standja in good stead with all of this, if ya ask me,” the bassist said. “I mean, add a lil understanding and TLC to it, and you’ll prolly get through to Dylan and be able to give your baby girl a helluva good Life, too.”</p>
<p>    The teen nodded as they turned around to head back to the Beach house, his mind already running at a hundred miles an hour or more. He was really starting to think that keeping Dylan here in So Cal with him’d be a better idea, ’cuz he’d actually be able to prove what he was doing and working for in real Time. If he let her hit the road with the others, she wouldn’t know one way or the other till they came back for a mid-tour break or the tour Ended altogether, whichever came first.</p>
<p>    Bobby agreed that he’d a point, but that he needed to really weigh the pros and cons of such a decision before he made it. If they left the strange young woman here with him, he’d be completely on his own and the one with sole Responsibility for her. Were she to start getting homesick for Neptune, it wouldn’t be pretty, if she couldn’t get in touch with her sister to talk it out. He’d also have to figure out what to do with her while he was at work or in the studio, if he deemed it a bad idea to leave her alone for even a few hours. That could be a Time that he’d need to ask one of his most-trusted friendsta give him a hand by coming to chill with her.</p>
<p>    Nodding as they got back to the Beach house, Richie said he was gonna give his parents a call, too since they’d been thinking about coming out to check in on him. He wasn’t gonna drop these kinda bombshells on them over the phone or anything, but he <em>could</em> say he’d something to talk to them about when they arrived. Only once they did would he mention a thing about human-like aliens and his pending teen fatherhood in the slightest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Lo so, Mamma–sono un idiota che trascina il cazzo…” </em>
</p>
<p>    Dylan’s brows furrowed as she approached the bedroom she’d been sharing with Rikki and CC, her attention caught by hearing a voice. It obviously belonged to her unborn daughter’s father, who’d disappeared to the master bedroom to make what the humans called a telephone call to his parents. But he wasn’t speaking either of the languages she now knew, and that was the part that made her curious enough to wanna eavesdrop on him.</p>
<p>    <em>“Beh, non è come volevo che succedesse…”</em> he grumbled before heaving a sigh. <em>“Almeno mi sto assumendo la Responsabilità della mia stupidità giovanile invece di scappare da essa, però.” </em></p>
<p>    The strange young woman continued to listen, assuming the word <em>Responsabilità</em> was supposed to mean <em>Responsibility,</em> based on the way it sounded.</p>
<p>    <em>“Sì, lo so che mi prenderesti a calci in culo, se scappassi da questo, Mamma,”</em> Richie laughed. <em>“E anche se decidi ancora di farlo, non vedo l’ora di rivedere te e Papà.” </em></p>
<p>    She tried not to make any noise that’d alert him to her presence, but apparently needing to relieve herself made her bump into the door just hard enough for him to hear.</p>
<p>    <em>“Sembra che qualcuno stia origliando, quindi la taglierò breve,”</em> the youngest male said, his tone suddenly Changing. <em>“Fammi solo sapere quando dovrebbe atterrare il tuo volo, e io sarò lì a prenderti.” </em></p>
<p>    Dylan made to head into the second bedroom, but she wasn’t quite quick enough to avoid getting caught.</p>
<p>    “Eavesdropping, huh?” he chuckled, smirking when she turned to face him. “I kinda figured somebody would, which’s why I chose not to speak English.”</p>
<p>    “What <em>were</em> ya speaking, then?” the strange young woman asked curiously.</p>
<p>    “Italian, or <em>Italiano,</em> as it’s said in that language,” Richie answered, pushing away from the doorjamb he’d been leaning against. “English isn’t the only language spoken on Earth, after all.”</p>
<p>    She couldn’t help her surprised look since the only language spoken on her home Planet was–well, Neptunian.</p>
<p>    “And no, you’re not doing that weird forehead thing to me again to learn it,” the youngest male told her. “You’ll either learn it a lil at a Time the old-fashioned way, or you’ll have to wait till I’m comfortable enough to letcha quite literally pick my brain like ya did to Rikki.”</p>
<p>    “Fair enough, I guess, since we can at least Communicate in English,” Dylan agreed. “’Cuz I’m not sure I wantcha knowing how to speak Neptunian.”</p>
<p>    He was equally quick to agree that they were even there since he didn’t usually speak Italian aside from with his family, or in some of his most Emotional moments. The same applied to another language that he said was called Greek, which he’d grown up speaking as much as English and Italian. If that was true in his case, he imagined the same was true for her and what could be considered her own mother tongue.</p>
<p>    By the Time she Returned from relieving herself, Richie’d rejoined the others in what humans called the living room. He said that he didn’t have long before he’d to leave for work, but luckily for him, he was closer to work than he’d have been at his dwelling. Once he’d worked his assigned shift, he’d decide whether or not to come back and crash here with the rest of them, or to head home. In all Honesty, he’d prolly just head home, both so he could shower and get some rest, and ’cuz he hadn’t helped the rest of the guys pay to rent this Beach house for the week.</p>
<p>    There was a part of Dylan that didn’t want him to leave for work and not come back, but she wasn’t gonna admit it aloud. Other than having mated with him and now carrying his child, it wasn’t like the youngest male truly meant anything to her. Well, that was what she wanted the othersta believe since she felt it was far too soon to be attached to anyone besides her sister and child. She’d made the mistake of growing too attached, too soon once before, and it hadn’t Ended well for her, to say the very least.</p>
<p>    Judging by the way her eyes glittered and she fought the slight tremble to her bottom lip when he left shortly thereafter, Bobby could tell the strange young woman was already far more attached than she was admitting to. Even Morgana could see those telltale signs in her sister, mostly ’cuz she felt the same way about the male who’d rescued her and become her lover. Neither of them said anything to her about it, knowing that cornering her over much of anything wasn’t gonna be a smart idea. They even pulled the blondes aside and said that if they’d noticed already, they’d be wiseta act like they <em>hadn’t</em> and just let her open up when she was ready and felt comfortable enough to do so.</p>
<p>    Now, it was just a waiting game, both to see if she’d drop her <em>façade</em> and admit her feelings, and for her to start showing signs of actually being pregnant.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Seven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next afternoon, Poison was starting to pack up their belongings so they could Return to the warehouse they were squatting in and called home when somebody knocked on the front door. Being the closest as he made his way to the master suite again, Bobby said he’d get it so the others wouldn’t trip over each other in a mini-stampede. Part of him was pretty sure that their visitor was Richie again, and he wasn’t disappointed in that particular assumption. However, he <em>was</em> surprised when he realized there was another couple with him that were obviously his parents, judging by the shared and otherwise similar features.</p>
<p>    “Hey, kid,” the bassist chuckled. “C’mon in.”</p>
<p>    “Thanks, Bobby,” he said, somehow managing a smile through the myriad of Emotions waging War in his eyes. “Let’s just say I’m about to have another Bull’s-eye painted on me, but I’m not sure there’s enough room on my ass for it.”</p>
<p>    “I kinda figured,” Bobby laughed, closing the door behind the trio. “One look’s all it took for me to figure out this is likely Mom and Dad.”</p>
<p>    “Georgine and Rich, Sr.,” the woman chuckled. “Or <em>Mamma e Papà,</em> as he says a lot, too.”</p>
<p>    “I’d guess Spanish, but I’ve lived in So Cal long enough to know I’d be putting my foot in my mouth,” he mused.</p>
<p>    “Italian, man, but it’s a pretty common mistake since they’re so similar,” Richie told him. “Mom’s family immigrated from Italy, Dad’s from Greece, so I grew up fluent in both of those <em>and</em> English.”</p>
<p>    “Oh, <em>that’s</em> gonna make things more fun than they already are,” the bassist chuckled.</p>
<p>    “What an understatement,” he dead-panned, even as he mocked hiding behind him.</p>
<p>    “Hey, I’m not a living shield!” Bobby laughed, finally drawing the others from the bedrooms. “I’ll help us as much as I can like I said I would, but I draw the line at taking blows from a hot-headed Italian mama!”</p>
<p>    “Smart young man,” Georgine giggled. “It’s not smart to try getting in an Italian’s way when she’s pissed and wielding a Wooden spoon.”</p>
<p>    “Trust me, no smarter to do that or run away from a pissed-off Seminole pretty much chasing ya through a Florida Swamp, either,” the bassist told her. “Especially when ya look more like an Irishman and you’re prone to getting sunburnt like my older brother.”</p>
<p>    Everybody who’d already met the ginger man in question–or at least seen an Irishman before–either laughed at the mental image, or winced sympathetically. But even as they were letting those reactions be shown, they were settling in the living room so introductions could be made. Richie seemed to take care to put some extra distance between himself and his mother, which made Dylan cock a brow at him since he usually kept his distance from <em>her.</em> Chuckling, he told her to just trust him when he said his mother was gonna be pissed till it was all explained, and he’d rather have some Space between them till they got to that point.</p>
<p>    Once everybody was introduced to each other, Georgine turned her attention to her son, who–like Bobby–turned out to be the baby of his family. His half-sister Wendy was grown and out on her own like he was, as was his older brother Dan since he was eighteen. But all the Kotzen kids being out on their own and fending for themselves didn’t stop her from worrying as if they were sick toddlers still.</p>
<p>    After taking a deep breath, Richie admitted that he wasn’t quite sure where to start, so he figured he’d just go ahead and get the worst of it over with. He was far more gentle in breaking the news of his pending teen fatherhood to his parents than the strange young woman’d been in breaking it to him. Even still, they were both shocked into a momentary Silence that made his heart rate ratchet up a few notches as he unconsciously held his breath. Once they’d processed that, he wasn’t surprised that they were both irate, his mom enough to actually get up and cross the room to knock him a good one. That made him simply react and shove Dylan behind Rikki and Bobby, who gladly acted as human shields and kept her and Morgana from taking any blows.</p>
<p>    Said strange young woman was shocked as she watched the youngest male take his mother’s abuse for a few moments, his arms only crossed in front of his faceta prevent a black eye or something. No one besides maybe his dad could understand a word of the tiny woman’s irate screeching unless it was a simple one like <em>Mom.</em> He seemed to understand her just fine, though, which was prolly one of the few good things about the situation for the moment.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mamma, smettila un minuto!”</em> he finally snapped, managing to catch hold of her wrists when he finally tired of taking her blows. <em>“C’è ancora molto da spiegare!” </em></p>
<p><em>    “Cos’altro potrebbe esserci da spiegare?”</em> Georgine demanded, jerking her wrists outta his gentle grip. <em>“Sei stato un idiota a mettere il tuo cazzo in qualcosa di diverso da un tritacarne!” </em></p>
<p><em>    “So di essere stato un idiota lì–l’ho ammesso al telefono, ricordi?”</em> The teen barely managed not to glare, knowing that’d definitely be a mistake right now. <em>“Ma la merda che deve ancora essere spiegata–diavolo, non ne capisco ancora completamente la metà, io stesso.” </em></p>
<p>    She seemed confused when he said that, her expression morphing into concern when he shoved his hair back outta his face in a telltale sign that he was stressed.</p>
<p>    “You’re not gonna believe me at first–I still barely believe what I’m about to tell ya,” Richie sighed, finally switching back to English for the others’ benefit. “Might be better to let one of the others start since they’ve experienced a lil more than I have.”</p>
<p>    “Might be, kid,” the bassist agreed, all the blondes nodding.</p>
<p>    That made Georgine and Rich, Sr. turn their attention to him.</p>
<p>    “I dunno where you’re from, but didja hear anything about an odd crash-landing about a week ago?” he asked.</p>
<p>    “It’s national news, son,” the Kotzen patriarch answered. “Nobody in or outside Area 51 can figure out what the hell they hauled outta the Pacific somewhere near here.”</p>
<p>    “About seven hundred feet from the patio of this very house,” Bobby supplied. “And I know, ’cuz Rikki and I were sitting on the Beach talking when we heard something weird and looked up to see a ball of Fire hurtling toward us.”</p>
<p>    Even their son looked surprised, ’cuz they hadn’t exactly gone into much detail about that part.</p>
<p>    “We thought it was an airplane at first,” he continued. “Turned out to be an alien escape pod, or something along those lines.”</p>
<p>    Naturally, the Kotzens thought he’d lost his mind at first, and it was pretty obvious they wanted to have him hauled off to a looney bin. The bassist simply shrugged and said there were a couple waysta prove that he and the rest of the guys were perfectly sane without having to take a field trip. He knew that letting either of the strange women pop off in their mother tongue’d certainly do the trick, ’cuz there was no other Earthling language that sounded anything like it.</p>
<p>    Dylan simply shared a look with her sister as she shrugged, the words that came outta her mouth foreign to all the humans as she commented that said beings were weird. Said sister laughed and responded in kind as she reminded her that they were just as strange to the Earthlings, ’cuz they hadn’t known each other long and they were still learning about each other’s cultures.</p>
<p>    Georgine and Rich, Sr. seemed shocked as they turned their attention back to the rest of the group, their son’s expression all but screaming <em>Toldja so</em>. There was no denying that–for all these two appeared human at first glance–there was clearly something <em>off</em> about them. If they were truly aliens, they were doing a damn good job at blending in already, although that was no doubt due to the men who surrounded them. Without those men–which included their younger son–they’d have no doubt been sticking out like sore thumbs, or already in a gov’ment lab somewhere.</p>
<p>    “Before ya ask, they’re from Neptune,” the bassist continued after letting them process that.</p>
<p>    “How can ya be sure?” Rich, Sr. queried, a curious look on his face.</p>
<p>    “With a due Respect, sir, they’ve told us things about that Planet only someone who’d been there’d know,” Rikki gently interjected.</p>
<p>    “Like their Planet making even Antarctica look like a Tropical Beach in comparison,” Bret dead-panned. “Or even a cat-five Hurricane look like a barely-there Breeze.”</p>
<p>    “I dunno what a Hurricane is, but our Winds average seven hundred miles per hour,” the older of the sisters broke in with a shrug. “Strongest ever recorded were closer to <em>twelve</em> hundred, though.”</p>
<p>    Both middle-aged humans’ jaws dropped in shock.</p>
<p>    “And the males can just barely withstand almost four hundred below zero far better than the females can,” Dylan added. “Well, that’s for the adults since children can easily freeze outside our structures.”</p>
<p>    “Then here’s my question,” Georgine finally said. “If you’ve managed to evolve that much, why’re ya here on Earth?”</p>
<p>    “’Cuz all their males that were old enough to start families were killed by those Winds,” Bobby answered. “Blown into sides of buildings, blown around till their tethers snapped and they plummeted into a frigid, churning Sea of methane–if ya can think of it, it prolly happened.”</p>
<p>    Both winced as sympathetically as their son, not quite sure how to respond to that.</p>
<p>    Morgana gently brushed off their condolences about that, then took a deep breath and prepared to dive into all their reasons. They didn’t seem surprised that they needed to find new blood to reproduce with as much as they wanted to find a better environment to raise those young in. At least they were taking that part well enough, which’d no doubt make explaining this next part that much easier for any of them.</p>
<p>    The older of the sisters made it clear that she thought her sister’d made a mistake in selecting a male like Richie as the father of her child. Not ’cuz he was an inherently a bad guy or anything from what she could tell–he seemed pretty decent to her so far, that was for sure. But he clearly thought himself too young for a family of his own, and certainly didn’t have the resourcesta take care of and provide for one. He clearly Intended to give acquiring those resources his all, rather than abandoning his child and refusing to take Responsibility for his role, and she considered that a good thing.</p>
<p>    Georgine leveled a dirty look on the younger of the sisters as she said that she may as well’ve just tied her son down and raped him. Tricking him into breeding her like she’d done was no better than flat-out raping him, as far as she was concerned, and made her protective mama instincts ratchet up into overdrive. Hearing those words made her target’s face turn a deep shade of red before she simply jumped up and ran out the back door toward the Beach, her sister hot on her heels.</p>
<p>    “Keep explaining everything–we’ll worry about those two,” Rikki said, taking off behind them with Bret and CC.</p>
<p>    “Mom, ya really shouldn’t have been quite so harsh on her,” Richie sighed once they were gone.</p>
<p>    “Well, it’s true!” she insisted.</p>
<p>    “I know it is,” the teen agreed as he looked her dead in the eye. “Trust me, I still feel more than a lil dirty, now that I know why she really seduced me that Night last week.”</p>
<p>    Georgine opened her mouth to say something else, only for him to gently cut her off by holding up a hand.</p>
<p>    “I also know that she’s only sixteen in human Years, she’s still learning about how we behave on this Planet, and as if that’s not enough, she’s already lost one child,” he continued.</p>
<p>    “You’ve <em>gotta</em> be shitting me, son,” Rich, Sr. breathed.</p>
<p>    “According to Morgana, Neptunians’re kinda like the Jewish culture,” Bobby said. “They forbid anything beyond mutual masturbation, for lack of a better way to put it, till what’d be thirteen here on Earth.”</p>
<p>    The older couple listened with great interest, their attention riveted on him now.</p>
<p>    “Once Neptunians reach that age, they’re allowed to ditch their virginity,” he continued. “Usually under the supervision of at least one of either child’s parents.”</p>
<p>    “Okay, now that’s a lil weird,” she chuckled, unable to help scrunching her nose. “I wouldn’t wanna watch my son have sex, whether it was his first Time or his hundredth.”</p>
<p>    “I wouldn’t, either, and the same goes for a daughter,” the bassist agreed. “But they do that on Neptune to make sure the kids don’t accidentally hurt each other till they get the hang of it, not ’cuz they’re truly being perverts.”</p>
<p>    The Kotzens couldn’t help their thoughtful expressions, which made even their son chuckle softly.</p>
<p>    Bobby continued by explaining how Dylan’s only experience with a male before coming to Earth made even a guy having a few <em>performance issues</em> seem like nothing to worry about. They weren’t surprised to find out that she’d conceived with her first coupling, ’cuz such a thing could happen with two humans. Even hearing that she’d a daughter as a result wasn’t much of a surprise, considering that they’d spoken of only males and females amongst their people thus far.</p>
<p>    However, both were just as horrified as Richie’d been upon finding what sweet lil girl’s Fate’d been once she was finally born. The middle-aged woman even teared up at the Thought of having to sit with one of her kids, whether they were at home or in the hospital, and just watch helplessly as they slowly died. But much like her husband, she couldn’t imagine going through that at less than sixteen Years old, and she didn’t wanna.</p>
<p>    Turning their attention back to their younger son, Georgine and Rich, Sr. both realized that he hadn’t been kidding about there being more to the story than there first appeared. He mighta made a mistake and gotten himself into more than a bit of a pickle by wanting his tickled, so to speak, but he was also a victim in this. After all, he’d essentially been tricked into <em>not</em> using a rubber so Dylan’d conceive, so he might as well’ve been raped as opposed to being a truly willing participant. Not only that, but he was at least trying to take Responsibility for his actions as much as he could, and just filling them in on what was going on more so than even asking for help, let alone for them do take care of this mess for him.</p>
<p>    Just like the teen’d told him the afternoon previous, though, they refused to let him struggle on his own instead of helping him. Now that they knew the full story, they were actually willing to pack up their Lives and move out West, especially since Rich, Sr.’d been offered a promotion that required such a move, anywhore. There’d be even more money coming in, whether their son moved back in with them or not, and they’d be close at hand to help him. And if they moved out West, starting with Georgine remaining here for the Time being, that could offer a way for both sistersta stay instead of going on tour.</p>
<p>    As the others Returned from finding said sisters and getting one Calmed down, Bobby admitted that they only had a Day left to make a decision. They’d have done so already, if they’d known things were gonna take this kinda turn, but since they hadn’t, they’d planned on taking Dylan and Morgana with them. It was then that the middle-aged woman said to just leave it to her, that she’d a friend who owned and ran a nearby apartment complex. No doubt said friend would have something that could accommodate the majority of her family in addition to both sisters. And in addition to that, said friend could no doubt help out with their finances by working out some kinda discount, if need be. Such things could even be started this afternoon once Richie was back home so he could get some rest after his long shift, but she could use his car.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Eight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Even though she was more than a lil dubious about Bobby heading out on his tour since she was thinking of him more and more like a Lifemate, Morgana was even more reluctant to leave her sister. It’d been decided that it was better for Dylan to remain in Los Angeles, but that woulda left both of them completely surrounded by only humans. As if that wasn’t enough, she knew her sister wasn’t gonna trust anyone else with her care as her pregnancy progressed, even if they were said to be exceptionally experienced in such things. She didn’t blame her for feeling that way, even though she’d kinda been looking forward to getting to experience more human culture than she’d seen thus far.</p>
<p>    Richie’d chuckled as he’d told them that America–the country they were currently in–was often referred to as a cultural melting pot for a reason. Folks from all over the World had slowly moved here from their mother countries like his grandparents’d done for Centuries. With them came various parts of their cultures in the form of different Traditions, such as which holidays they celebrated and how they celebrated them. Another good example was all the different architectural styles from one Coast to the other, North to South, too.</p>
<p>    Both strange women were surprised by that when he and his mother took them to the apartment complex owned by Georgine’s friend. Much like its almost-twin a few blocks away, Palazzo East sported what they both called a Mediterranean architectural style. Plenty of neutral, Earthy tones, stucco siding, and arched windows and doorways were key components of the style, which mother and son both said was found a lot on the Coast of a body of Water called the Mediterranean Sea. The teen swore he’d show them what he meant on a map, if one of his parents didn’t, but for now, they’d an apartment to tour.</p>
<p>    This complex’d been chosen, ’cuz while it and Palazzo West were both owned by the same person, this was the one that supported empty three-bedroom apartments. While he didn’t mind sleeping on the couch, Richie said he’d really rather have a bedroom the size of a closet, if he could. If nothing else, he wanted his own private Space so he could at least get away from his parents, but even the other women, too.</p>
<p>    Following the trio of women since Rich, Sr.’d already headed back to Pennsylvania temporarily, he listened closely as his mother’s friend filled them in. The only bedroom on the main floor wasn’t really big enough for anything bigger than a twin-size bed, ’cuz it was technically supposed to be a separate office Space. At least there was a full bathroom next door to it, so he wouldn’t have to share with either his parents or the strange sisters. He’d be able to hide whenever he felt like it, and he’d definitely have more than enough privacy for taking care of his bodily functions–including servicing himself. Having the other two bedrooms and their en suite bathrooms on the second floor only added to that sense of privacy, which drew a small smile from him as they looked around the kitchen and dining-slash-living room.</p>
<p>    “So, what’s up with wanting a three-bedroom apartment, Georgine?” her friend, Christina, asked as they finally headed upstairs. “I know Richie moved out here, but I thoughtcha said he’s emancipated.”</p>
<p>    “And I am,” the teen answered with a chuckle, wrapping an arm around Dylan’s shoulders. “But I got myself into a bit of a jam when my girlfriend and I found out she’s pregnant.”</p>
<p>    Thankfully, said strange young woman went along with his lie as much as her sister.</p>
<p>    <em>“Ahhhh,</em> I see,” she chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Dad got offered a promotion that’d require moving out here, and even though Morgana’ll be a big help when it comesta changing diapers and whatnot, I need to be able to save money to even <em>buy</em> diapers,” Richie explained.</p>
<p>    “Moving back in with your folks certainly helps there,” the complex owner agreed.</p>
<p>    “And keeps <em>Mamma</em> from trying to use a Wooden spoon as a golf club on my head again,” he laughed.</p>
<p>    “Oh, I’m still not happy that you’re gonna be such a young daddy, but at least you’re stepping up instead of running off,” Georgine said, shooting him a hard look.</p>
<p>    “You and Dad mighta raised a bit of a fool, but not a complete blithering idiot,” the teen told her. “So, of course I’ma own up to my mistakes as much as I can.”</p>
<p>    “Certainly a young man to be proud of,” Christina laughed, leading them into the bedroom immediately at the top of the stairs.</p>
<p>    Big enough for at least a Queen-size bed, maybe even a King, it sported decent-sized his-and-hers closets between it and the bathroom door. Unlike the downstairs bathroom, this one sported a soaking tub <em>and</em> shower, rather than just the shower, as well as a double vanity. To the left of said vanity, there was a partial wall that at least somewhat hid the toilet from view when one first walked in.</p>
<p>    Moving back to the top of the stairs, they headed into the bedroom to the right of the stairs as viewed when one got to the top of them. This suite pretty much stretched across what’d be Richie’s bed- and bathroom downstairs, plus the balcony that could be accessed from the living room. It was able to house either two twin-size beds, a Queen, or a King just like the other upstairs suite, depending on its occupants’ needs. Even a small dresser could be squeezed into the small Space on the far side of the bump-out that hid the chimney from the fireplace in the living room, if they so desired.</p>
<p>    This suite’s bathroom also sported its own separate tub and shower, but there were a couple differences that were almost immediately noticable. In here, there was only a single vanity, rather than a double one more suited to a couple. That was prolly due to the seemingly huge closet that branched off said bathroom, but at least it’d its own vanity and there <em>was</em> a closet. Not only that, but the toilet was tucked back in a lil niche that was hidden till the bathroom door was closed, rather than being at the End of that vanity.</p>
<p>    As they headed back downstairs, now that they’d gotten the full tour–which included the small laundry area right outside what’d be the teen’s bed- and bathroom–they started talking finances. Normally, this type of apartment ran for almost $3,000 per month in rent, and that wasn’t including any deposits and rent for any pets, which they didn’t have. But Christina was willing to cut them a deal by cutting said rent back to $1,500 per month, which was roughly half the normal price. She new that moving–especially across the country–and babies could get pretty expensive on their own, but definitely when combined. In being a family friend, as well as the complex owner, she wanted to help them with those things as much as she possibly could.</p>
<p>    “So, what about us paying the first month’s rent at the End of the lease period, or at some point in the middle of it?” Richie queried, looking nervous as he bit his lip.</p>
<p>    “Normally, I wouldn't agree to such a thing,” she answered. “Most folks can’t be trusted to keep their word, after all.”</p>
<p>    “Too well I know it for being as young as I am, unfortunately,” the teen agreed.</p>
<p>    “I’m willing to make an exception here, though, ’cuz I know your parents so well,” Christina said. “I know them moving cross-country, alone’s bound to make things tight at first.”</p>
<p>    “Especially till we get our house out East sold,” his mother agreed.</p>
<p>    “But I know you’ll get my money to me, even if it takes till <em>after</em> your lease runs out, if ya don’t renew it,” the complex owner chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Well, even <em>I</em> would,” Richie said. “I was asking, ’cuz aside from their expenses, I’ve to think about mine.”</p>
<p>    “Oh, I’m sure,” she agreed.</p>
<p>    “Not only do I’ve to worry about my own moving expenses–even though they’ll no doubt be cheaper than Mom’s and Dad’s–I’ve to still pay this month’s rent where I’m at now,” the teen explained. “Well, my part of it, that is.”</p>
<p>    “And between those two things, you’d be too drained to pay even half the reduced rent the first month,” Chri-tina said, Enlightenment Dawning.</p>
<p>    “Fuck, I’ll be lucky to afford two weeks’ worth of food for just myself once I take care of those things!” he proclaimed with a snort.</p>
<p>    Dylan’s and Morgana’s eyes widened as they realized just how lil he truly had when he said that.</p>
<p>    “Then consider the first <em>two</em> months’ rent on the house,” the complex owner told them. “Don’t even consider it late, considering you’ll still have to figure out utilities on top of food and moving expenses.”</p>
<p>    Even Georgine was surprised by that declaration, ’cuz while she’d figured her friend would help them out, she hadn’t expected anything like that from her. Christina chuckled and assured her that she didn’t do such things lightly, ’cuz she was a businesswoman at the End of the Day. If she did that kinda shit for everybody she rented to, she’d never make any money, but she was her friend and a pretty understanding person.</p>
<p>    After taking care of the paperwork–which she’d get Rich, Sr. to sign when he Returned from Penn–they were given the keysta their new home. Since the band wasn’t due to leave till the following Morn, it was decided that the sisters were better off spending one last Night with them. Not only would the older of the pair get another Night with Bobby before they left, but they’d be supervised and entertained while Richie and his mother were moving his belongings. And that wasn’t including a couple other errands so they’d have food, as well as get a furniture delivery set up so everybody else’d have something to sleep on.</p>
<p>    Dylan hid even the slightest sadness caused by the Thought of being separated from him for even a single Night. She still had her doubts toward him, but the teen was proving his Sincerity and commitment with practically every word that came outta his mouth. His doing everything he could to provide for her and their unborn daughter only increased the attachment she’d been feeling toward him ever since their romp the week previous, which seemed like a Lifetime ago.</p>
<p>    But his referring to her as his girlfriend–that raised new questions that further tangled up her already-jumbled Emotions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By the Time Poison headed out for the start of their maiden tour early the next Morn, Richie was exhausted enough to sleep for a week. He’d worked three Days straight of doubles immediately prior to talking to Christina, and after spending all Night moving his belongings, he was bushed. In fact, he was so exhausted that his mother refused to let him anywhere near his car unless he was getting in the passenger’s seat. As far as she was concerned, he was more likely to fall asleep at the wheel and get them into a wreck, so she preferred driving to take care of their other errands, herself.</p>
<p>    Their run through a nearby grocery store left them with at least a couple weeks’ worth of food for five people, which was good enough for now. More could always be bought later, but they didn’t wanna exhaust their bank accounts before his father could Return. At least they didn’t have to worry about buying appliances since the apartment was already furnished with those, though. If nothing else, they’d have more to spend on the all-important furniture, not to mention getting the utilities turned on. Beyond food and furniture, nothing was more important than power and Water since they’d need thoseta cook, not to mention do laundry and bathe so they didn’t offend at least each others’ noses all the Time.</p>
<p>    Once they’d dropped off their load of groceries, Georgine and her son headed off to get the strange sisters so the band could head out. They could tell that Dylan was torn between seeming haughty and running straight into the teen’s arms as soon as they climbed outta the car. Morgana was clearly reluctant to let go of Bobby, who was Returning the tight hug she gave him like they’d just gotten married.</p>
<p>    After everybody’d parted ways on the grounds that the band would at least try to call once they arrived at their first destination, the remaining group headed to the nearest furniture store. Richie said they couldn’t go too high-End since they’d a lot to get, but he wanted the sistersta be able to pick their own bedroom suit. He chuckled when they seemed confused, which he’d kinda been expecting since they hadn’t been on Earth for very long and were still learning.</p>
<p>    “A bedroom suit means things like beds, nightstands, dressers, and the like,” he explained.</p>
<p>    <em>“Ohhhh,”</em> they breathed, nodding as they got it.</p>
<p>    “We prolly won’t get the whole suit, just ’cuz it’s not like the rooms’re huge,” Georgine said. “That, and ’cuz we’ve to be mindful of the budget.”</p>
<p>    “But as long as we’ve all got a bed, a dresser, and at least one nightstand, I think we’ll be fine,” her son mused.</p>
<p>    “I think so, too, but we’ll see based on prices,” she told them. “And even if we can’t afford it just yet, we might find a nursery set we like that we can get later on.”</p>
<p>    “Nursery set?” Dylan queried, her brow furrowing.</p>
<p>    “Furniture for the baby,” the teen answered, yawning afterward. “They make special beds that look more like cages so a baby’ll have its own placeta sleep, but won’t roll out in the floor and get hurt while they’re young.”</p>
<p>    “And most cribs’ve matching dressersta put the baby’s clothes in, at the very least,” his mother added.</p>
<p>    “Don’t forget changing tablesta making diaper changes easier on the parents,” Richie chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Trust me, as a seasoned mother, I’m not gonna forget anything like that!” the middle-aged woman laughed as she parked his car. “I might be a short shit, but Daddy’s not, andja got your height from him.”</p>
<p>    “And to think I’m not even done growing since I’m only sixteen,” he said, climbing out so he could raise the seat and let Dylan out.</p>
<p>    “Whaddaya mean?” her sister queried as she climbed out from the other side.</p>
<p>    As they headed toward the massive building they’d parked outside of, Georgine explained that girls typically reached their full adult size between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Some girls stopped growing at a younger age, others at an older age, which meant they’d reached their maximum height. On the other hand, boys usually didn’t reach their tallest till they were around twenty-one, although some stopped growing before or after then. That meant her son still had roughly five Years of growing left to do, which meant he’d no doubt get a lot taller than just five-seven, and by how much was anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>    Walking into the furniture store, she was the one to take charge when they were greeted by one of the sales associates. Not only had she done this kinda thing before, but she’d a game plan in mind and could also tell her son was almost too tired to stay upright. Richie was more than content to tell her take charge, though, ’cuz he knew he was almost too tired to think straight on top of it.</p>
<p>    It didn’t take long for them to decide on a living room set consisting of a sofa, Love seat, and matching End and coffee tables that looked kinda rustic. Finding a dining room set that at least somewhat matched, but still showcased a bit of class in its rustic design wasn’t all that hard, either. That even went for the matching sideboard and curio cabinet, the latter of which’d be used to house his mother’s fine china sets. And the thing that made mother and son both even happier was that all parts of these two sets turned out to be on sale, too.</p>
<p>    From there came the part that was gonna be more aggravating and Time-consuming–finding bedroom suits for everybody without going overboard on the price. Georgine couldn’t help laughing as her son warned Dylan and Morgana not to make him feel like he’d gotten kicked in the nuts and punched in the teeth at the same Time with whatever they picked for themselves. Naturally, he’d to explain what he meant by kicked in the nuts, unconsciously cupping himself protectively as he did so. At least they got it with few words, both saying that Neptunian males suffered the same agony when hit or kicked in the crotch. They just found his choice phrase perplexing, yet amusing as the moved into the section that housed all the bedroom suits sold by this store.</p>
<p>    “Oh, this one’s me and Daddy written <em>aaaall</em> over it,” the middle-aged woman chuckled as they stumbled across a King-size set in a grayish-brown Wood.</p>
<p>    “Do I even wanna know?” Richie asked, his brow cocked as he looked at her sleepily.</p>
<p>    “Kinda Modern, kinda rustic, but doesn’t go overboard on either,” she answered with a grin.</p>
<p>    Glancing at the set again with an appraising eye, the teen nodded moments later. “Yeah, I can see it. It’s your City-dwelling sides, but kinda reminds me of Summer camping trips by the Lake, too.”</p>
<p>    “And we’re <em>soooo</em> getting a King,” Georgine stated with a finality that said not to argue the point. “’Cuz keeping it clean, your daddy and I’d kick each other outta bed, if we go with anything smaller.”</p>
<p>    “Jeez, Mom–I don’t need to know about your sex Life,” he groaned, making Dylan and Morgana giggle.</p>
<p>    “I don’t need to or wanna know about yours, but I do, so we’re even,” the middle-aged woman retorted with a laugh.</p>
<p>    All that answered her was a single middle finger as Richie apparently decided to wander off to browse on his own, leaving the sisters bewildered.</p>
<p>    “I’m not sure if I should ask about that gesture or not,” the older of the sisters mused.</p>
<p>    “It’s the non-verbal version of the phrase <em>Fuck you,”</em> Georgine chuckled as they trailed behind him, her voice raising slightly after that. “Which isn’t very nice for a boy to say to his mama!”</p>
<p>    <em>“Succhiami il dado sinistro, Mamma!”</em> he retorted, much to his mother’s amusement.</p>
<p>    “Time to lay off, ’cuz I know my son well,” the middle-aged woman said. “When he’s tired enough to say shit like that to his mama, he’s just gonna get crankier and be easier to piss off.”</p>
<p>    “Duly noted,” Morgana chuckled.</p>
<p>    They merely watched as the teen browsed through the selection of much-smaller beds that were on display for the next few minutes. Even Dylan cocked her brow curiously as he seemed to find one he liked that was much more narrow than the one his mother’d picked for herself and her husband. That was ’cuz one side of this bed was closed off by what she’d have called a headboard, if she’d known the terminology, which made it look more like a sofa.</p>
<p>    Chuckling as he moved to inspect the matching dresser and nightstand of the gray, slightly-rustic bedroom suit, Georgine explained that it was called a <em>daybed.</em> It was supposed to be turned so the closed-off side faced whatever wall was closest to it, which was why it resembled a sofa. But a person’d stretch out on it long-ways like any other bed, so it was generally comfortable enough for those who owned one.</p>
<p>    Richie seemed to nod to himself as he rose outta the squat he’d dropped into and turned to face the womenfolk again. He said that as long as he’d a bed, a dresser for his clothes, and a nightstand to put a lamp on, he could live without anything else in his room. The less furniture taking up what lil Space he was gonna have, the more he’d have free to line up things like his instruments and amplifiers. If he lined those up on the wall since he wasn’t gonna have a closet, at least he wouldn’t be tripping over them or stubbing his toes all the Time and hurting himself as a result.</p>
<p>    “If that’s whatcha want, son,” his mother agreed.</p>
<p>    “Don’t really have many clothesta worry about, so I’m good with just a dresser,” the teen assured her. “If I’d a closet in this apartment, I wouldn’t even bother with one.”</p>
<p>    “You’d live outta your laundry basket, if I’d letcha,” Georgine laughed, grabbing one of the order ticketsta check off the pieces he Intended to get.</p>
<p>    “Hey, it’s easier and less Time-consuming than putting everything up!” he retorted with a laugh of his own.</p>
<p>    “You’ll Change your mind as ya get older, ’cuz I once said the same thing,” the middle-aged woman assured him.</p>
<p>    “Now, just to let these two make their picks,” Richie said.</p>
<p>    “I like the bedja picked for yourself,” Morgana admitted. “Or maybe one with both sides open.”</p>
<p>    “Well, they’ve this version where both sides’re open,” the teen told her. “Seems like it’s in two different sizes, depending on whether ya wanna share with Dylan or not.”</p>
<p>    “Might not be the best idea,” his mother interjected. “As she grows with her pregnancy, it’s gonna be harder for Dylan to get comfortable.”</p>
<p>    “Then is a twin even gonna be big enough?” he asked. “Or do we have enough room for dual fulls?”</p>
<p>    “We’ll have to take some measurements, or hope they’ve it in a Queen or King,” Georgine answered.</p>
<p>    “Lemme go track down one of the associates so we can find out,” the teen said. “At least it’ll keep me awake for a lil while longer, if nothing else.”</p>
<p>    Richie didn’t wait for any of them to agree or disagree before he took off, his mother chuckling as they watched his retreating form. She told the sisters when they shot her curious looks that when he was this tired, it was better to just let him go once he got into the mood to move around. If they tried to stop him, he’d wind up finding somewhere to knock out and be damn near impossible to wake up again.</p>
<p>    Dylan couldn’t help a giggle at the Thought of this young male knocking out that hard and sleeping so deeply that one’d have such a hard Time waking him. As much as she didn’t wanna admit it, the endearing mental image those words painted made him seem all the more attractive. Not only that, but it made her think ahead to after she’d given Birth, of when he’d be exhausted by working on top of caring for their daughter. She could already picture him with said infant cradled to his chest, his grip just tight enough to avoid dropping her as they both slept relatively peacefully.</p>
<p>    Moments later, the teen Returned with one of the sales associates that wandered the floor, cleaning and straightening up merchandise between helping customers. It appeared that he was already explaining what they were wanting, but they were still just a bit too far away for either of their wordsta be made out. Unfortunately, based on the associate’s expression, it didn’t look like they were gonna get what they’d been wanting unless they chose a different bedroom suit.</p>
<p>    As suspected, the only sizes the beds from this set came in were twin and full, which prolly wasn’t gonna work in a few months’ Time. The twin size came in technically three different versions–the one they were looking at now, the daybed Richie’d chosen for himself, and a canopied version of the daybed. If they were to try putting two of the twins together to make a King-size bed, the head- and footboards wouldn’t be wide enough, so they wouldn’t look right. Even Morgana seemed a bit disappointed by that as she sighed and said it seemed like they were just gonna have to make a full work. None of the other bedroom suits’d caught either of their attention beyond giving it a passing glance, but they couldn’t do without a bed.</p>
<p>    “If you’re sure,” he said, sounding a bit uncertain.</p>
<p>    “I am,” the strange young woman assured him with a decisive nod.</p>
<p>    “I don’t really like the Thought of <em>not</em> sharing with my sister,” Dylan agreed.</p>
<p>    “We’ll just get them something different later, if need be,” Georgine said. “We’ll have the finances figured out better, and more money to work with once Dad starts on that big promotion.”</p>
<p>    “True enough,” the teen admitted. “I guess we’re getting this in a full.”</p>
<p>    “Anything else ya need?” the associate asked.</p>
<p>    “Might wander around a bit more,” Richie answered, chuckling. “Part of the reason we’re a lil strapped is ’cuz I found out I’ma be a daddy.”</p>
<p>    “Well, congrats!” she laughed. “You’ll definitely need a nursery set eventually.”</p>
<p>    “Exactly, and even if we don’t find anything today or can’t afford it yet, it won’t hurt to look,” the teen agreed.</p>
<p>    “You’ll at least get ideas, if nothing else,” his mother pointed out.</p>
<p>    Nodding, Richie let all the womenfolk precede him to the kids’ section, which included everything from nursery setsta bunk beds. He was enough of a gentleman that he didn’t mind bringing up the rear, even though he didn’t realize it increased the younger sister’s opinion of him a lil more. Then again, he was pretty much running on fumes, so he didn’t exactly care about that kinda thing at this particular moment.</p>
<p>    As it turned out, there was a crib that matched the sets he and the sisters’d picked for themselves, which was a bit of a surprise. What was even more of a surprise was that if they got the changing pad, his own dresser could double as a changing table. The way the set was designed, it wouldn’t really be worth it to get a second dresser for that purpose when he could share drawer Space. Not only that, but they could also get the taller, matching chest for clothing storage, if they decided they needed it that much. They’d see how the layout looked once they got everything else into their new home and decide for sure in the next few Days.</p>
<p>    Since they were gonna eventually need a crib, they decided to add one to today’s order so they’d already have it later on. But since it seemed like it was gonna wind up in one of the teen parents’ bedrooms, they decided on the gray finish over the Ivory one. Regardless of which of their rooms it wound up in, at least it’d match all the rest of the furniture in either of them. As far as they were concerned, that made today’s shopping excursion a Success, which put all of them in a damned good mood.</p>
<p>    Luckily, it turned out that their order could be delivered that very Day, which put them all in an even better mood when they heard that. If Richie could manage to stay awake at least a couple more hours, he’d be able to sleep in his new bed once he finally got to pass out. Just the Thought made him quite literally, but gently smack himself awake and swear he was gonna stay up, even though he was sure to sleep twelve hours straight. The good thing was that he’d the next Day off without having to use a vacation or sick Day, so he’d be able to sleep as long as he needed to. And knowing he didn’t have to set his alarm clock to wake him up just made him look forward to going to bed all the more for once.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, so I've several different links here, for those of y'all that're interested. Hopefully, they give an idea of what I was going for in this chapter since I was running on fumes while writing at least half of it. And by the way, the model for the apartment's the Siena Penthouse Premier, which's the second two-bed, two and a-half-bath floor plan under the two-bed tab.<br/>~Firefly</p>
<p>Link to Apartment Complex–https://www.apartments.com/palazzo-east-apartments-los-angeles-ca/32ghtcd/</p>
<p>Link to Living Room Suit–https://assets.roomstogo.com/eric-church-highway-to-home-headliner-brown-leather-7-pc-living-room-with-reclining-sofa_1928935P_image-room?cache-id=603ec095eb440a187d2a8ea23997ecf6&amp;h=550</p>
<p>Link to Dining Room Suit–https://assets.roomstogo.com/riverdale-cherry-5-pc-square-counter-height-dining-room-with-x-back-stools_4319353P_image-room?cache-id=8ab7b0d18b016d39360accabdaa98010&amp;h=550</p>
<p>Link to Georgine and Rich, Sr.'s Bedroom Suit–https://assets.roomstogo.com/lake-town-gray-7-pc-king-panel-bedroom-with-storage_3502055P_image-room?cache-id=479d53eaba43a7be09a6fda9e05af05d&amp;h=550</p>
<p>Link to Richie's Bedroom Suit–https://assets.roomstogo.com/jaclyn-place-gray-3-pc-daybed-bedroom_3544402P_image-room?cache-id=918e090ff5953fd3b92bf9e1ed54c8ac&amp;h=550</p>
<p>Link to Morgana and Dylan's Bedroom Suit–https://assets.roomstogo.com/jaclyn-place-gray-5-pc-full-bedroom_3424402P_image-room?cache-id=db1f0415c596a54ae19e1106bec4787d&amp;h=550</p>
<p>Link to Matching Nursery Set–https://assets.roomstogo.com/jaclyn-place-gray-4-pc-nursery_3914402P_image-room?cache-id=31f53c756e83d80369a0384fa4ef4e0a&amp;h=550</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Nine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’d taken a couple hours after Returning to their new home for the delivery truck to pull up in the parking lot, and poor Richie’d been forced to make himself coffee, even though he didn’t really want it. By this Time, he was pretty much running on his eighth Wind, and his mother hated seeing him in that shape. Then again, even the younger of the sisters was hating seeing him like that, but once again, she refused to actually say it.</p>
<p>    To keep himself awake, even once the caffeine started to wear off, the teen’d jumped in help the delivery guys bring their new furniture up. He didn’t tell them just how tired he really was, but he also didn’t try to argue when they wouldn’t let him get anything beyond the End and coffee tables, as well as their dining chairs. Without even having to ask, he knew they were already reluctant to let him do that much, ’cuz whatever insurance they had prolly wouldn’t cover him getting hurt while helping them. But he’d needed a way to keep himself awake till everything settled down enough for him to sleep without being disturbed.</p>
<p>    As soon as the last of the furniture was brought in, the quartet’d started setting up the beds and dressers the way they’d wanted them. Richie’s bed wound up against the far wall of his room so the open side faced the door, which was pretty much the only place it <em>could</em> go. Otherwise, it woulda had to be put up against the only wall with a window so its closed-in side faced the wall that separated his bed- and bathroom. That left enough room for his nightstand at the head of his bed, and for his dresser to go across from them between the window and his bedroom door. But that was pretty much how he’d envisioned his room looking when they’d toured the apartment, so he was satisfied with the result.</p>
<p>    Next’d come the sisters’ bedroom, where they’d settled their new full-size bed on the wall across from the chimney bump-out. In the lil niche between it and their own exterior wall, they’d settled the taller chest that matched their bedroom suit, as well as the teen’s and the nursery set. Their nightstands were settled on either side of the bed, which left them with plenty of Spaceta get in and outta it, as well as change the bedding.</p>
<p>    Space was more of a premium in what was considered the master suite, mostly due to Georgine and Rich, Sr. having a King-size bed. In here, the nightstands’d to be turned sideways so the drawers could be opened only a few inches, just enough to get their hands into. Their dresser sat against the wall across from the foot of the bed, leaving just enough room to get between the two pieces of furniture without having to crawl over them to get to the closets and bathroom. Course, that meant that the matching gentleman’s chest’d to be put in one of those closets since there was nowhere else for it to go. That meant the patriarch got the bigger of the two closets, but it was a relatively even trade since his wife got more of the drawers in the dresser. He’d no doubt be fine with that once he Returned from Penn, so they’d all decided to call it Grace at that point.</p>
<p>    Once those rooms’d been set up as much as they were gonna be, the teen’d shuffled off to grab a shower since he desperately needed one. His mother’d told him that she’d make his bed for him while he was showering, and only ’cuz he was obviously so exhausted. At least then, he’d be able to go straight to bed once he was done getting cleaned up, which’d be a good thing since he desperately needed the rest. That much was proven when he went straight to his room and barely took the Time to drop his dirty clothes in his laundry basket before flopping on his new bed. He’d been completely uncaring of smacking his hand on the back side of the bed, a pleasured groan ripping outta his chest as he’d gone limp.</p>
<p>    Now, early the next Morn, Dylan seemed to be concerned that he still wasn’t up yet, which was making her start to get antsy. Her sister struggled to bite back sleepy giggles since she already knew just how attached to him she really was. Then again, she couldn’t say she felt any differently about Bobby, whom she was still waiting to hear from since she hadn’t opened a mental link with before he’d left.</p>
<p>    “Relax, sweetheart–I’m sure he’s fine,” Georgine chuckled as she worked on food.</p>
<p>    “He hasn’t risen since he went to bed, though,” she protested, bouncing her knee restlessly.</p>
<p>    “Actually, he did,” the middle-aged woman corrected her. “It took me a while to get to sleep, so I heard him get up to relieve himself around Midnight.”</p>
<p>    “See? He’s fine and just catching up on lost rest,” Morgana told her, gently squeezing her hand.</p>
<p>    “He might be in a lil pain when he first gets up, but that’ll be cured by another trip to the bathroom,” his mother said.</p>
<p>    <em>“Sì, perché la mia vescica mi sta urlando e I miei reni fanno male,”</em> they heard from behind them.</p>
<p>    Turning, Dylan couldn’t help her relief when she saw him sleepily shuffling past the lone counter where they’d set up the coffee pot and into his bathroom.</p>
<p>    “What’d he say?” her sister queried, a curious look on her face.</p>
<p>    “That his bladder was screaming at him, and his kidneys hurt,” Georgine translated with a laugh. “Means he <em>really</em> needsta relieve himself, so as long as his pain doesn’t last too long, he’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>    “But what if it doesn’t go away soon?” the younger of the sisters asked.</p>
<p>    “Means he’s prolly got something called a kidney stone,” she answered. “Not necessarily Life-threatening–just really painful–and rarely requires surgery ’cuz of the person being unable to pass the stone on their own.”</p>
<p>    “So, nothing to really worry about?” Morgana asked.</p>
<p>    “Not unless the pain persists more than two or three Days after getting diagnosed with a kidney stone,” the middle-aged woman answered, shaking her head. “If it goes on longer than that, that’s usually a sign that a doctor’s gonna need to go in and take it out.”</p>
<p>    “I doubt that’ll be the case, though–they’re already not hurting as bad,” Richie said as he joined them moments after they heard the toilet flush and the sink running.</p>
<p>    <em>“Buongiorno, figlio mio,”</em> she chuckled, grabbing him for a hug. “And I’m glad to hear it.”</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmm, buongiorno, Mamma,”</em> the teen veritably hummed as he Returned the hug.</p>
<p>    <em>“Dormi bene, tesoro?”</em> Georgine asked as they pulled away from each other.</p>
<p>    <em>“Non credo di essermi mosso una volta per tutta la Notte,”</em> he answered with a chuckle of his own.</p>
<p>    Laughing, the middle-aged woman said that he musta been sleep-walking, ’cuz she’d heard him get up for a potty break around Midnight. If not that, then he’d been awake enough to know what he was doing, but too tired to actually remember it, now that he was up for the Day. Such a thing happened with a lotta folks, so they weren’t exactly worried about it since he rarely had such memory lapses.</p>
<p>    Richie let out another chuckle as he poured his customary cup of coffee that he usually had first thing in the Morn, then settled at the table with the strange sisters. He admitted that as tired as he’d been by the Time he’d gone to bed, he’d actually forgotten his own name a couple Times. That being said, he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t remember getting up in the middle of the Night to relieve himself, which he almost never did. As much Water as he’d drank over the course of the Day in addition to the cup of coffee to keep himself awake, though, he also wasn’t surprised by that Change in his Nightly habits.</p>
<p>    He cocked a brow, though, as Dylan wedged herself under his left arm and snuggled against his side as he raised his mug again. Other than the Night they’d slept with each other, she’d pretty much kept her distance from him in every way possible. Saying he was surprised by this particular move, as evidenced by him pulling back slightly to look down at her, was a bit of an understatement. Course, who could blame him for feeling that way when she was constantly sending him mixed signals and confusing him?</p>
<p>    Morgana gently grabbed the wrist of the hand he was using to raise and lower his mug, shaking her head in a Silent warning not to pull away when she whined and snuggled closer again. Even Georgine was surprised when she said that, love or hate her, keeping too much of a distance today was a bad idea. She said she’d give him a full explanation later, but for right now, she’d a pretty good idea why she was acting like this right now. As it turned out, Neptunian women could sense not only when they conceived, but the very moment their unborn child implanted. If their child hadn’t already done that within the last hour or so–which’d certainly explain her antsy behavior–she was but moments away from implanting.</p>
<p>    “It makes the mother wanna– Howddaya say it–wanna make herself warm and cozy?” she queried.</p>
<p>    “I think you’re talking about the nesting instinct, dear,” Georgine supplied. “Most human women don’t experience that till we’re almost ready to deliver, ’cuz we can’t sense the very moment of conception and when the child implants.”</p>
<p>    The older of the sisters cocked a brow curiously since she didn’t quite understand.</p>
<p>    “Mammals like humans want a warm, cozy placeta give Birth,” she explained. “Our infants’re born wet, and it takes some Time for their brainsta figure out how to regulate their temperature, so they can get cold easily.”</p>
<p>    “Neptunians’re much the same way,” Morgana told them. “But the mothers exhibit that behavior when the child’s implanting, not just immediately prior to Birth.”</p>
<p>    “Not necessarily a bad thing,” the middle-aged woman chuckled. “I think Richie’s just surprised and confused, ’cuz–based on what I’ve seen–she’s been keeping her distance from him.”</p>
<p>    “Well, can ya blame me, Mom?” he asked. “She acts friendly and cuddly one minute, then like she’d rather see me dead the next.”</p>
<p>    “’Cuz she doesn’t wanna get too attached and have ya abandon her,” her sister explained.</p>
<p>    “Which I can understand, but still–it’s beyond confusing for me,” Richie grumbled.</p>
<p>    “And it’s confusing for her, too,” she told him. “But for right now, she’s listening to her instincts. Those instincts’re screaming for her to find that warm, cozy place–and due to you being the father, you’re her first pick for who she wants with her.”</p>
<p>    “I guess that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” the teen mused. “But she’s gonna have to move for a minute.”</p>
<p>    Dylan pouted adorably as he made her sit up, then grabbed his still-steaming coffee mug before rising from the chair he’d settled in. She watched as he moved to the sofa and settled in the seat closest to the dining table, then settled said mug on the End table next to him. Part of her thought he was refusing to let her near him, her face falling sadly as that Thought crossed her mind.</p>
<p>    Seeing that look cross her face, he couldn’t help a laugh as he managed to lean toward her enough to gently grab her hand. Giving the appendage a gentle tug as he sat upright again, he made her stand up and move so she was standing between his knees. That was when he gently manhandled her so that once she was seated, her rump was nestled between his thighs so that his crotch pressed against her hip. Her legs were draped over his and the arm of the sofa next to him, which kept her turned so that she faced the kitchen and dining table. She wore a surprised expression as he reached down long enough to readjust said crotch so he wasn’t in pain, then wrapped both arms around her.</p>
<p>    Richie hummed contently as he pulled her against him so that her head was resting on his chest like it’d been before. Watching him rest his chin on her head brought smilesta his mother’s and her sister’s faces, but all of them could tell that she was still confused. He simply smirked as one hand roseta rub her back, the other rising to cup the back of her head toward the base of her skull. Course, this position kinda made him feel like they were actually a couple, but he chose not to mention it for the moment.</p>
<p>    “Just relax,” the teen chuckled. “I didn’t make ya get up and move over here ’cuz I was trying to be mean.”</p>
<p>    “Then why?” Dylan queried, managing to look up at him curiously.</p>
<p>    “’Cuz ya were making me lean funny at the table, and it was making my back hurt,” he laughed.</p>
<p>    The younger sister’s face reddened in embarrassment.</p>
<p>    “But moving over here to the couch solves that problem, ’cuz I can sit up straight,” Richie told her once he’d Calmed down. “And it keeps you from being in pain from sitting in my lap like this making the table bite into your side or something.”</p>
<p>    “He’s a point, dear,” his mother agreed, bringing their plates over to them once she got breakfast done. “And while I don’t normally let people eat on the couch, we can make an exception this Time.”</p>
<p>    “Leather’s a lot easier to clean than fabric, although it’s better not to make a mess in the first place,” the teen explained when she looked confused. “If eating on the couch lets me cuddle ya, but keeps us both from being in pain…”</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmm…”</em> She merely hummed and nodded as she readjusted herself enough to eat, proving she was right-handed as much as he was.</p>
<p>    Once they were all done with breakfast and the dishwasher’d been loaded a short while later, they headed off to get dressed for the Day. Georgine’d decided to hold off on getting everyone new bedding till today, if only so her son could get some rest and the checks written yesterday could have Time to clear. Now that those things’d been taken care of, she wanted to head out for that bedding while said son’d a Day off work and could come with them to pick his own.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple hours spent at a home-goods store called Bed ‘n’ Bath saw the quartet emerging with bank accounts somewhere between two and three hundred dollars lighter, but with three bedding sets. Richie’d been the most decisive about what he wanted, having been pretty quick to pick a set in navy with a pinch-and-pleat design. His mother’d approved ’cuz it was classy, made the gray of his furniture pop more, and even brought out the blue in his eyes more. That last reason’d actually been quite a bit of why he’d been attracted to it, although he insisted on getting a spare set of sheets and pillow cases in something more along the lines of Ivory or beige to break up the blue every once in a while.</p>
<p>    Georgine’d been the next quickest to decide on a bedding set, which’d been a bit of a surprise, considering she’d to pick something to suit herself <em>and</em> her husband. She’d settled on a set in beige and Ivory, which brought out the grayish-brown tones in the Wood of their furniture. It also sported what looked like a floral pattern, something that could prolly be better described as a curling, leafy vine.</p>
<p>    Dylan and Morgana took the longest to make a decision, though, ’cuz they’d never seen such products before since they were from Neptune. The almost-Infinite number of Colors and designs also overwhelmed them a bit, which certainly didn’t help matters. Knowing that they both’d to agree on whatever they picked added even more to their already-full plate, and that caused a couple minor squabbles between them, too. Eventually, the teen’d grown a bit frustrated with them, but he’d made a suggestion that finally gave them a sense of Direction and a better placeta start.</p>
<p>    Like when Bobby’d suggested Sea-themed names based on where they were from and what that Planet Lorded over in Astrology, he’d suggested something Sea-themed. After that, they hadn’t taken long to settle on a set in Ivory and a much Lighter shade of blue than his favored navy. Edged in a medium shade of blue from the same Color family, this set sported a print of Coral, Seashells, and Starfish that was elegant, but not overbearing and suited both sisters well.</p>
<p>    “I think we should run by Babies ‘R’ Us on our way home,” his mother said once they were loaded up.</p>
<p>    “Can we even afford anything else till Dad gets back out here?” Richie asked, buckling his seat belt as he fired up his car. “And can we even fit anything else in my trunk?”</p>
<p>    “We don’t necessarily have to get anything, even though Daddy wouldn’t argue me dipping into our savings for our grandbaby,” she laughed. “And bedding squishes, so I think we prolly could.”</p>
<p>    “If you’re sure–on both counts,” the teen acquiesced.</p>
<p>    “Oh, I’m more than sure,” Georgine assured him. “It’ll take more money than you’ll be able to make before the Birth to prepare for this baby.”</p>
<p>    “I kinda figured,” he chuckled, backing outta his parking spot once the coast was clear.</p>
<p>    “And trust me, even though said baby just implanted this Morn, the next nine months’re gonna fly by,” the middle-aged woman told them. “Well, that’s assuming her pregnancy lasts as long as a human pregnancy, of course.”</p>
<p>    “Whaddaya mean?” Morgana queried from the back seat as they took off.</p>
<p>    “Well, a human woman carries her infant for nine months in most cases, so not quite a full Earth Year,” she explained. “But since you’re both Neptunian, that might be different.”</p>
<p>    “Means that Dylan might stay pregnant for less Time, or she might carry for longer than mine months,” Richie clarified.</p>
<p>    He glanced up into his rearview mirror to check on the traffic behind him, but he still caught a glimpse of them both nodding. Even though they’d been on Earth for a mere eight Days or so, they were learning a lot quicker than any of them’d expected. That was a good thing, though, ’cuz it meant they’d be able to assimilate into humanity without giving themselves away easier.</p>
<p>    Shortly thereafter, the teen was parking outside the store his mother’d named, which was specifically geared toward babies and toddlers. He knew the sisters were bound to be overwhelmed by everything they saw like they’d been at the first store, but there was no way around it. But at least this store pretty much catered to only a couple age groups, which’d make things easier for them all. Well, that was assuming that he could keep all the womenfolk from getting overly distracted by all the baby toys and clothing since they didn’t really need to visit the furniture section here.</p>
<p>    In the building, Richie grabbed a cart and managed to herd the trio of women to the bedding section, part of him kinda glad no sales associates came up to greet them. All this shopping was already starting to take a toll on him, if only by making his bank account howl in agony loud enough for his dad to hear. Even with his parents helping him financially, this baby was gonna cost him a fortune by the Time she was grown. But it was partly his fault she was even a clump of cells implanted in her mother’s womb, and he damn well knew it.</p>
<p>    Browsing through the sets of crib bedding, he made the suggestion that they go with something that kinda combined his own with that of the sisters. They weren’t sure whose bedroom the crib was gonna wind up in, so he was trying to think ahead as much as he could. If they went with something that pulled Colors from both, or Colors from one and patterns from the other, it wouldn’t really matter which parent’s room the crib wound up in. Georgine was quick to agree with him, reminding them that they’d matched the finish of the crib to the bedroom suits picked by all three of the younger trio. Considering they’d already matched those pieces, she saw no reason to deviate with the baby’s bedding, if they didn’t have to.</p>
<p>    “Oh, this is absolutely adorable,” the middle-aged woman gushed, pulling a package off one of the shelves.</p>
<p>    “This seems kinda brightly-colored, if we’re matching either of our bedding sets,” Richie mused, taking in what seemed like varying shades of aqua.</p>
<p>    “Maybe, but it goes along with the print on theirs,” she pointed out.</p>
<p>    “How so?” Dylan asked, cocking her head curiously as she let herself be mesmerized by the Colors.</p>
<p>    “Remember what we said about Coral growing in the Sea, and the Starfish living deep under it?” Georgine countered with a chuckle.</p>
<p>    “Of course we do,” the strange young woman answered.</p>
<p>    “Well, this is an Octopus, and this is a Whale,” she said, pointing to two of the Creatures depicted on the package. “And these’re Fish.”</p>
<p>    “They all live in the Sea like Starfish do,” her son explained. “Well, Fish live in places like Rivers and Lakes, too, but that’s a different story.”</p>
<p>    “So, the Creatures in this match the Creature on ours,” Morgana mused.</p>
<p>    “It’s not an exact match, but yeah, it goes with the theme,” he agreed, nodding.</p>
<p>    “And kinda like with Richie’s bedding, we can always get extra sheetsta mix-and-match with,” Georgine reminded them. “Actually, that’d be a good idea, ’cuz babies’re messy lil things.”</p>
<p>    “Yeah, that’s definitely true,” Richie chuckled. “Hell, we’ll prolly need to change the baby’s sheets ’cuz of a ’sploding diaper or something quicker than we’ll have to change our own.”</p>
<p>    Laughing as she agreed that he certainly had a point there, his mother settled the one bedding set in the cart once Dylan nodded, signifying that she liked it. Then they continued browsing, mother and son knowing they might find something they liked or that matched better than this set. Course, even if they didn’t, there were no doubt sheet sets that didn’t come with crib bumpers and baby comforters that’d be a lot cheaper.</p>
<p>    Only a few minutes proved that they weren’t gonna find any other full sets they liked, so they decided to go with a spare sheet set in a solid Color. After all, the one that came with their chosen full set was white and printed with various parts from the rest of the set, like the Whale and Octopus. The crib skirt was more or less designed to match either side of the reversible quilt that came with the nautical-themed set. It only made senseta get something in a solid Color so they weren’t overwhelmed by patterns, whether they were an exact match or differed slightly.</p>
<p>    All they could find in a set of spare sheets were navy fitted sheets, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as far as they were concerned. The exact shade might differ slightly, but the navy crib sheets matched Richie’s bedding more or less perfectly. Not only that, but they’d bring out the blues in Dylan and Morgana’s bedding, especially that medium shade that kinda bridged the gap between the main shade of theirs and the entirety of the teen’s chosen set.</p>
<p>    Checking out saw Georgine writing a check for between fifty and a hundred dollars since she’d already said she’d buy this part for them. She’d to reassure her son that she could more than afford it, a smile on her face as she told him that if she didn’t buy it now, she’d just wind up making this purchase for him later on. After all, pretty much everything from baby furniture to diapers and clothing back up to bathing sets and other essentials were often used as baby shower presents later on in pregnancy. Not wanting to give her a chanceta find something else she thought they needed, he didn’t bother trying to argue the point. He simply nodded and grabbed their bags, ready to get back home as he fished out his keys and headed outside to his car.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Again, I've a few different links for anyone interested. I know having a visual certainly helps me when I'm trying to picture something based on a description.<br/>~Firefly</p>
<p>Link to Richie's Bedding–https://b3h2.scene7.com/is/image/BedBathandBeyond/2855924231980g?$690$&amp;wid=690&amp;hei=690</p>
<p>Link to Georgine and Rich, Sr.'s Bedding–https://b3h2.scene7.com/is/image/BedBathandBeyond/21330125238434m?$690$&amp;wid=690&amp;hei=690</p>
<p>Link to Dylan and Morgana's Bedding–https://b3h2.scene7.com/is/image/BedBathandBeyond/689846220164c?$690$&amp;wid=690&amp;hei=690</p>
<p>Links to Crib Bedding/Spare Sheets–https://b3h2.scene7.com/is/image/BedBathandBeyond/341034669490222p?$690$&amp;wid=690&amp;hei=690 and https://b3h2.scene7.com/is/image/BedBathandBeyond/116467160837448p?$690$&amp;wid=690&amp;hei=690</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Ten</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the rest of the afternoon once they’d gotten back home, put the crib bedding in storage alongside the crib, and made their own beds with their new bedding, Dylan’d been quite the cuddly young woman. She hadn’t wanted to let the father of her child outta her sight more than normal, which’d been both amusing and annoying, depending on who was asked. Not only was she <em>taking</em> every chanceta cuddle that he gave her, she was also <em>making</em> chances when- and wherever she could.</p>
<p>    Richie’d put up with her behavior for at least a few hours since he was trying to be understanding due to what her sister’d told them that Morn. But eventually, not getting away from her aside from when he’d beg off to relieve himself got old, and he was forced to lock himself in his bedroom. Naturally, that’d upset the young woman, who’d almost immediately teared up when she heard the lock of his door click. Even though she coulda used her Neptunian Power to unlock it, hearing that Sound sent the message that he was bored and annoyed with her, and therefore about to abandon her and their unborn daughter.</p>
<p>    Georgine’d seen her reaction since Morgana’d gone upstairs for a potty break and immediately grabbed her for a tight hug. She hadn’t tried to stop her from crying once she’d broken down, but rather quietly sang a song from her own childhood as she’d let her get it out. By the Time her big sister’d Returned to the living room, she’d settled down to just hiccups and a few watery sniffles.</p>
<p>    “Sweetheart, he’s not abandoning you or the baby,” the middle-aged woman was saying as Morgana Returned.</p>
<p>    Said sister was horrified by her tears and ready to go on the warpath.</p>
<p>    “Then wh-why’d he l-lock h-his door?” Dylan whimpered, reaching up to brush away a couple errant tears.</p>
<p>    “Richie’s always had his outgoing side, but he’s always been quite the introvert, too,” she explained. “That means he prefers being and needs a lotta Time alone.”</p>
<p>    The older of the sisters let out a <em>hmph</em> as she settled on her other side and wrapped her in a tight hug.</p>
<p>    “He’s a lot to adjust to, just like you, and being alone helps him make those adjustments,” Georgine continued. “He’s not used to almost constant cuddling, no matter the reason, so he’s to get used to it a lil at a Time.”</p>
<p>    “He’s not?” This was asked by Morgana, whose irritated frown morphed into one of confusion.</p>
<p>    “No, he’s not,” the middle-aged woman answered, shaking her head. “That’s not to say humans don’t like cuddling, ’cuz we do.”</p>
<p>    Both sisters listened, Dylan sniffling again.</p>
<p>    “It’s been a while since he’d a girlfriend, so he’s not in the habit of cuddling anymore,” she explained. “Suddenly having someone who <em>wantsta</em> cuddle with him and the Knowledge that he’s to be a daddy dumped on his head’s overwhelming for him.”</p>
<p>    “He certainly doesn’t seem like it,” the older of the sisters mused.</p>
<p>    “’Cuz he’s always been good at hiding his Emotions when he feels like it,” Georgine chuckled. “If he doesn’t wantcha to know how he’s feeling, you’re prolly not gonna, if ya dunno him very well.”</p>
<p>    “But you <em>do</em> know him well,” the younger of the sisters said.</p>
<p>    Laughing, she said that she’d have to be a pretty dumb woman to <em>not</em> know either of her sons well after so many Years. She even knew her stepdaughter well enough to read her moods, but there was an extra <em>oomph</em> with her boys in comparison. After all, she’d technically known them since about a month into her pregnancies, so she’d gotten to know them pretty early on.</p>
<p>    While both boys’d been pretty active during said pregnancies, Richie could also be pretty reserved when he felt like it. In fact, there’d been Times that he’d seem almost shy and try to shrink away like he was snuggling her spine when certain people’d touch her belly. Following his Birth, he still exhibited those behaviors with pretty much everybody except herself, his father, and his older siblings till he was about five. Once he’d started kindergarten, he’d slowly broken outta his shell with most folks, but he’d still always been more introverted than he hadn’t been.</p>
<p>    Dylan listened as the middle-aged woman explained that a good way to figure out what was on his mind wasta pay attention to the Music he listened to and played. He often showed his Emotions and did a lot more talking through Music, as it were, almost as if it were a fourth language he was fluent in. One could glean at least part of what was on his mind when he did that, ’cuz he’d play softly when in a good mood, loudly when he wasn’t. In addition, the lyrics of a song could give away what he was thinking or wanted pretty well, too.</p>
<p>    “A perfect example’s the song he’s playing right now,” Georgine chuckled, gesturing toward his door as she heard the familiar intro of a KISS song that’d come out a couple Years ago.</p>
<p>    “Really?” the older of the sisters asked as she listened to the Melody drifting through his door.</p>
<p>    “It’s a song called <em>Heaven’s on Fire,”</em> she laughed. “Since I’ve heard it, I know the lyrics and what they’re about.”</p>
<p>    Both sisters seemed confused, so she merely grinned as she heard him kill the riff. “Why don’tcha take it from the top, <em>figlio?” </em></p>
<p><em>    “Mamma!”</em> Richie all but squawked from his room.</p>
<p>    “Don’t <em>Mamma</em> me–it’s a good song!” the middle-aged woman laughed.</p>
<p>    “I’m not playing it again, if you’re gonna sing it,” he said. “’Cuz that’s a gross one for a mother-son duet!”</p>
<p>    “So, sing it yourself!” Georgine shot back. “You’ve a damn good voice!”</p>
<p>    “Not good enough to match Paul Stanley!” the teen argued.</p>
<p>    “Boy, just do it before Mama decidesta paddle your behind,” she chuckled.</p>
<p>    A pretty loud groan answered them, making even Dylan giggle before her eyes widened at the howl he let out before he started playing again.</p>
<p>    <em>“I look at you, and my blood boils hot–I feel my temperature rise,”</em> Richie sang after about ten seconds, the guitar riff already starting to pick up a bit. <em>“I want it all, give me what you got–there’s hunger in your eyes!” </em></p>
<p>    The younger of the sisters looked a bit confused as she listened to the muffled lyrics, but so did Morgana.</p>
<p>    <em>“I’m gettin’ closer, baby–hear me breathe… You know the way to give me what I need–just let me love you, and you’ll never leave!” </em></p>
<p>    Georgine bit back her snickers as they continued to listen.</p>
<p>    <em>“Feel my heat takin’ you higher–burn with me, Heaven’s on Fire!”</em> the teen continued, making both sisters’ eyes widen. <em>“Paint the Sky with Desire–angel fly, Heaven’s on Fire!” </em></p>
<p>    There was only about a two-second pause between the End of the chorus and the Beginning of the second verse, but she knew they were enraptured, all the same. Granted, she was prolly gonna have to explain the meaning of the lyrics, but she was fully prepared to do just that. Neither were very familiar with a lotta human phrases, despite the Knowledge they’d stolen from Bobby and Rikki, after all.</p>
<p>    <em>“I got a fever ragin’ in my heart–you make me shiver and shake,”</em> Richie continued after those couple seconds. <em>“Baby, don’t stop–take it to the top, eat it like a piece of cake!” </em></p>
<p>    Dylan couldn’t help the slight blush that stained her cheeks as she listened.</p>
<p>    “<em>You’re comin’ closer–I can hear you breathe,”</em> he sang, obliviousta them listening Intently. <em>“You drive me crazy when you start to tease–you could bring the devil to his knees!” </em></p>
<p>    Georgine was still grinning as he launched into the chorus again, making even Morgana cast her a curiously confused look. Once she managed to bite back her laughter, she started to explain what those lyrics were talking about as simply as she possibly could. Both their jaws dropped as she said that he was no doubt playing that song ’cuz he was a horny lil shit, but hadn’t been able to do anything about it all week. If that was the case, any attraction he possibly felt toward the younger of the sisters’d no doubt made cuddling with her a bit uncomfortable for him and added to his need for some Time alone.</p>
<p>    She finally couldn’t help her laughter as Dylan asked why on any of Planets he’d still wanna mate, even though she’d already conceived. Once she was finally able to Calm down, the middle-aged woman explained that that was just how humans–especially the males–were. To them, sex felt good, and it wasn’t always about conceiving–sometimes, it could be a form of stress relief, or used for bonding.</p>
<p>    Catching the look that crossed her face when she said that, she said that tonight might not be the best Night to try surprising him with that, though. He’d to get up early the next Morn for work, and if she kept him up too late, he’d be cranky all Day at work tomorrow. Then again, maybe getting laid again’d relax him enough that even a lack of sleep wouldn’t negatively affect his mood overmuch. In fact, a lack of sex lately prior to meeting her could be making him crankier than anything else possibly could right now. She was leaving the ultimate choice up to her, but the one thing she strongly advised was that if she <em>did</em> find a way to sneak into his room for that and he said no, back off and don’t push it.</p>
<p>    Nodding, Dylan recalled all too well how Rikki’d reacted when she’d tried to get him to mate with her after he’d said no. Even though this young male was her own age, she’d no desire to deal with his temper, if she continued being pushy after he’d told her no. That hadn’t been a pleasant experience, and it’d landed her in a bit of a pickle, so she didn’t wanna repeat a previous mistake with another male. If that meant backing off and not attempting to mate with him or actually doing so, then she’d gladly back off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later that Night, after everybody’d long since retired to their rooms and gone to bed, Richie couldn’t help his inability to sleep. He hadn’t gotten laid nearly enough before meeting these strange sisters, and a single romp just wasn’t enough for him. All the cuddling over the course of the afternoon’d served to make him horny and then some, but he hadn’t dared to make any moves on Dylan. For all he knew, she’d have knocked his head off or quite literally made his dick explode, if he’d so much as tried to nuzzle her throat.</p>
<p>    Rolling onto his side so he faced away from his bedroom door, he couldn’t help the heavy sigh he let out as he settled comfortably. He honestly hadn’t wanted to since he’d have preferred a willing partner, but he was entertaining the notion of entering the <em>Five-Finger Olympics,</em> as it were. No doubt that’d be preferable to getting no sleep when he’d to work the next Morn, or waking up horny once again.</p>
<p>    Making his decision, the teen raised his leg so there’d be more room and therefore easier access, his hand drifting down from where it’d been resting next to his chest. He couldn’t help the twitching of his abdominal muscles at the sensation of his own touch, but definitely not the soft gasp as his hand found its target. Even though he was only half-hard at the moment, his sensitivity was through the roof, so even his new sheets rubbing against him felt good. Gentle or rough, wet or dry, pretty much anything gripping him–especially once he’d reached full mast, so to speak–was gonna feel like the touch of the Divine. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but he wouldn’t have cared, had he been paying attention to his own Thoughts.</p>
<p>    Sinking deeper into the sensations, Richie didn’t notice when his door seemingly unlocked itself, then Silently opened. He certainly didn’t notice the figure that entered his room before the door closed again, the latch not even clicking as it caught and held fast. The only thing that mattered to him was getting his rocks off, which he’d admit he prolly shoulda done when he showered earlier. Beyond that and finally getting some sleep before work, he didn’t care about anything else beyond his unborn daughter’s Health.</p>
<p>    “What the–” he gasped upon feeling someone crawl into his bed behind him.</p>
<p>    <em>“Shhhh,”</em> came the whispered response, followed by a pair of lips kissing right beneath his ear.</p>
<p>    “Dylan, what on Earth…?” Richie asked, trying to roll onto his back without knocking her in the floor.</p>
<p>    “If ya don’t want this, then just say so,” she murmured, letting her hand roam down his chest and belly.</p>
<p>    The teen couldn’t help a soft moan, nor his abdominal muscles twitching again as he finally managed to roll onto his back.</p>
<p>    “I’ll stop, if that’s whatcha want,” Dylan told him just as her hand made it to his crotch.</p>
<p>    “God, if ya do that, I’m definitely not getting any sleep,” he groaned, his shaft throbbing as he continued to harden in her grip.</p>
<p>    The strange young woman simply hummed, gasping and jerking her hand away when giving him a gentle stroke made him arch and let out a louder groan.</p>
<p>    “Hey, that wasn’t a bad reaction,” Richie chuckled, sounding a bit breathless.</p>
<p>    “Butcha arched like ya were in pain!” she protested.</p>
<p>    “’Cuz I was trying not to buck up and knock ya off the bed,” the teen laughed, careful to keep his volume down as he reached over his head to turn his lamp on.</p>
<p>    Dylan winced slightly, shielding her eyes with her free hand till he got it settled on in dimmest setting.</p>
<p>    “Guys’re pretty sensitive, so even a gentle touch gets a reaction outta us,” he explained as he used his own hand to encourage her to stroke him again. “Course, girls’re the same, just in different ways.”</p>
<p>    “Whaddaya mean by that?” the strange young woman queried, looking curious.</p>
<p>    Grinning deviously, Richie reached down to her own crotch, snickering as finding her clit through her panties almost made her fall off the bed. Luckily, he’d some insanely quick reflexes, so he was able to catch her before she could actually fall and hurt herself. But his point about females being equally sensitive and then some was proven with just that single, momentary touch.</p>
<p>    Dylan couldn’t resist moving so she was able to straddle him once she’d regained her balance, which served a couple different purposes. Firstly, it’d keep her from falling off his bed and possibly waking whoever lived beneath them in one of the single-story apartments. Secondly, it allowed her to tease both of them simultaneously by grinding on him, rather than trying to stroke him with her hand. He seemed to like the Change in position, though, if the pleasured groan he let out as his hands moved to gently grip her hips was anything for her to judge by–and it most certainly was.</p>
<p>    It didn’t take long for the teen to make her get up, which was both confusing and disappointing for her as she did. Despite the fact that she already carried his daughter, his doing that almost made her think that he’d Changed his mind about mating with her again. His proceeding to get up as soon as she was on her feet–which put his impressive, burgeoning cock on full display–really made her think that he was about to turn her away by escorting her outta his bedroom.</p>
<p>    A chuckle bubbled up from his chest as Richie proved that he hadn’t Changed his mind in the slightest by gently grabbing the hem of her shirt. Just ’cuz he usually slept nude didn’t mean everybody did, and trying to get her minimal clothing off without getting up prolly woulda been hazardous. Getting her shirt off to reveal her torso–which lacked one of the bras he’d bought her–woulda been pretty easy, just like it was now. But trying to get her panties off without knocking her off him or taking a knee to the nuts woulda been a display of acrobatics he doubted either of them was up for. At least she seemed to figure that out as he started to gently push down the scrap of cloth that he coulda just as easily ripped off, which was already soaked.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmm,</em> now where were we?” he chuckled, gently hauling her against him.</p>
<p>    Dylan couldn’t help a soft gasp at the sensation of his bare cock pressing against her belly.</p>
<p>    “Ah, now I remember,” the teen said, shooting her a mischievous grin.</p>
<p>    She couldn’t help a soft squeal as he turned and gently shoved her, sending her flopping down onto his bed.</p>
<p>    “That’s more like it,” Richie said, that grin never leaving his face as he joined her.</p>
<p>    <em>“Ohhhh,”</em> the strange young woman moaned, her head tipping back against his pillow as he gently nuzzled her throat.</p>
<p>    “I’ma have fun with this,” he murmured, already seeking out her hot spots. “I didn’t get to do this last Time.”</p>
<p>    “Do what?” Dylan panted, unable to help squirming beneath him.</p>
<p>    “Show ya that there’s more to sex than just getting a woman pregnant, and how much fun it can be,” the teen answered.</p>
<p>    She wanted to ask him just what he meant by that, but didn’t get the chance before she felt his teeth on her throat. Gently nipping, biting hard enough to cause pain and leave marks, they moved from just beneath her ear down to her collarbone and across her shoulder. They seemed to linger in the spots that got the best reactions outta her, those reactions making him laugh as he continued lower still.</p>
<p>    Even though he took his Time, it wasn’t long before Richie’d worked her through two orgasms that almost got him bucked off his bed. The Sounds she made, especially those choking gasps while in the throes of Bliss, made him feel like he was gonna blow his load without being touched a single Time. And after she’d gone limp for the second Time, he knew he’d to move on before he started getting cranky and ruined a good Time. God only knew that being so hard, it was physically painful like it was right now was never fun, and he still needed to get at least a few hours of sleep.</p>
<p>    Knowing she was already pregnant, he decided against wasting Time on fishing a rubber outta the top drawer of his nightstand. The damage was already done, as far as taking chances with becoming a teen daddy and possibly catching some strange disease from her. If the latter was gonna happen, he’d prolly already caught some Neptunian disease that no human doctor was gonna be able to treat or cure. To him, there was no reason to worry about such things instead of making sure she’d her fun while getting his own rocks off.</p>
<p>    A soft groan ripped outta his throat as he slowly bottomed out, Dylan’s pleasured mewl and clamping down on him driving him crazy. Still, the teen forced himself to pause so they could both have a few momentsta adjust once he felt his swollen sac pressing against her ass. If nothing else, it gave him a minute to rein himself in before he embarrassed himself, which was always a good thing in his book. Then again, so was having a minute to readjust her so that her legs were wrapped around his waist, which he’d been told a couple Times was more comfortable for the women. Once that adjustment was made and he’d reined himself in, he braced himself for the best leverage and started to rock her World with a grin.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Eleven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three months later, Bobby headed straight for the apartment now occupied by the Kotzens and the strange sisters, who’d adopted Neptune as their surname. Poison’d just Returned from another month of shows that were more sporadic than the local gigs they were able to line up on their own. Other than getting paid more for these shows–although it wasn’t by much–he didn’t really consider this supposed tour worth it. He was pretty sure they were spending more than they were making in just diesel for the bus and rig that hauled their minimal gear. When one added in the daily cost of living since he’d been the one to refuse booking hotels, it seemed their expenses far outweighed their income.</p>
<p>    Luckily, the bassist was at least able to make enough to support himself in addition to taking care of Morgana in a financial sense. He’d felt bad that Richie’d been running himself ragged to provide for both sisters, considering he’d to save up money for his unborn daughter. That was why he’d given the poor kid damn near the entirety of what he made every Time the band came home for a break. Besides, if he stayed with the older of the sisters–whom he was officially dating–he’d no doubt be buying things for this baby girl, anywhore.</p>
<p>    Seeing the teen’s disheveled state when he answered his knock, Bobby thought he’d just spent a long Night getting laid before a Day off. But the poor guy could barely greet him before he was slamming the door shut and hauling ass into the nearby bathroom. That combined with him hitting his kneesta start gagging and heaving startled him, but he was still quick to follow so he could at least pull his hair back. He doubted his parents woulda bought him alcohol and he knew damn good and well he was too young to buy it himself, so he figured it was just a case of food poisoning or something.</p>
<p>    “Better now, kid?” he asked once he’d at least settled down so he was just panting.</p>
<p>    “Ugh, I can’t wait till this Ends,” Richie groaned, letting him help him up. “At least it’s not all Day and half the Night anymore, though.”</p>
<p>    “Whaddaya mean?” the bassist asked, flushing for him as he moved to rinse his mouth out.</p>
<p>    “Apparently, Daddy getting his own version of Morn sickness during pregnancy’s just par for the course with Neptunian women,” he answered once he’d spit out the tainted Water.</p>
<p>    “That’s just lovely,” Bobby chuckled. “At least I’ve some warning to keep wrapping it, or risk being sick as a Dog ’cuz I tapped it.”</p>
<p>    “Glad to be of service in being a Guinea Pig,” the teen dead-panned, his smirk belying any true malice.</p>
<p>    “Hey, you’re the one who let yourself get so distracted, not me,” he told him. “Even the Night they arrived, I wouldn’t fuck Morgana without a rubber–and <em>she</em> wanted to conceive as bad as her sister did.”</p>
<p>    “If what I’ve seen is anything to go by, I don’t blame them,” Richie admitted as they headed out to the kitchen so he could grab some Ginger ale.</p>
<p>    “I’m not sure if I <em>should</em> ask, let alone if I wanna,” the bassist said.</p>
<p>    “Let’s just say that the first Time her period hit about two weeks after they showed up, we thought Morgana’d come down with appendicitis at first,” he explained.</p>
<p>    “Sweet fuckin’ Goddess,” Bobby winced, not even wanting to imagine it.</p>
<p>    “When we got her to the ER, the doctor said he couldn’t find anything wrong and called the department that normally dealt with feminine functions,” the teen continued. “She said she’d never seen anything like it, but the closest she could get to a diagnosis was something called endometriosis.”</p>
<p>    Richie sipped the glass he’d poured himself after pointing out where their coffee bar was before he continued as he settled on the Love seat. He said that when a woman’d endometriosis, the lining of her womb’d a tendency to grow outside that organ and attach to others in the immediate surrounding area. It was apparently incredibly painful, especially during the woman’s period, and could cause pretty much everything from infertility to constipation alongside the pain.</p>
<p>    Bobby settled next to him after making a pot of coffee, listening as he continued by saying that they hadn’t found any actual evidence of the disease, though. The OB/GYN said she musta been one of those women who suffered from worse cramps than others, but didn’t have a discernible cause for such pain. All she could do was prescribe a painkiller for during her periods since nothing else was strong enough to even take the edge off, a Balanced diet, and plenty of regular exercise. She even prescribed the latter two things for Dylan once she found out they were full-blooded sisters, ’cuz she obviously wouldn’t have periods during her pregnancy and therefore wouldn’t require the painkillers yet.</p>
<p>    The teen’s explanation was cut off there, even though he’d pretty much reached the End of it, by a soft, but pained cry from upstairs. Knowing it was the sister they’d just been talking about, he set aside his glass and pushed himself up from the Love seat. He said that the likelihood that her next period had hit her was pretty high as he headed for the stairs since he’d have to help her up again.</p>
<p>    In the sisters’ bedroom, the bassist felt his heart wrench painfully as he spotted his girlfriend on the side of their bed closest to their bathroom door. Curled up in a ball on her side, she was already sobbing in agony as her sister managed to lever herself down to kneel beside her. She tried to get her to sit up, but Morgana clearly wasn’t having it as she hugged herself, her knees drawn up to her chest as close as she could get them. It was clear that she wasn’t gonna be able to do anything with her, which was no doubt why Richie’d come upstairs when he heard her cry.</p>
<p>    “Get on her other side,” he told him after he’d convinced Dylan to move. “Usually takes me and Dad both to get her up once she hits the floor like this.”</p>
<p>    “Fuck, maybe I need to reconsider <em>not</em> using a rubber,” Bobby said, grimacing as he gently hauled her upright. “’Cuz if this is agonizing to watch, I can’t imagine how it actually feels.”</p>
<p>    “Just remember what I said about the Sympathy sickness, if ya do,” the teen chuckled, working with him to get her on her feet. “Fuck her without a rubber, I mean.”</p>
<p>    “I think I’d rather be sick as a Dog for a few months than for her to go through this Hell on Earth every month,” he retorted.</p>
<p>    “Well, so would I since Dylan says the same thing happensta her, too,” Richie agreed.</p>
<p>    “It’s normal for Neptunian women,” the sister in question told them as they settled her sister on the toilet. “It’s why we’d rather be with child as opposed to not.”</p>
<p>    “Shit, if that’s the case, it’s no Wonder ya damn near raped Rikki the Nightcha crash-landed,” the bassist winced. “I can’t say I wouldn’t prefer committing rape, if it meant conceiving and avoiding this, and be telling the Truth.”</p>
<p>    “That’s why it was nothing personal toward him,” Dylan chuckled, rubbing her small, but already-noticeable baby bump.</p>
<p>    Moving to her sister’s side, she directed the teen to the cabinet under their lone sink as she gently pushed him back due to the limited Space. Richie nodded and dug around for a few moments, then rose with something in his hand as he closed the door again. It turned out to be a box of ultra-absorbency tampons, which made the older brunette’s eyes widen as he watched him pry it open. The only thing he could take that to mean was that she’d some insanely heavy periods, and her baby sister’d be the same way, if she weren’t pregnant.</p>
<p>    Dylan quickly got her sister cleaned up, remaining on her knees between those of her sister as she ripped open the tampon she was handed. Apparently, Morgana was in too much pain to insert the piece of Cotton on her own, which wasn’t surprising, based on how she was acting. He wouldn’t have been surprised, if she’d refused to use one at all, if she wouldn’t have made a huge mess without one.</p>
<p>    Once it was in, the younger of the sisters rose so she could dispose of the trash and wash her hands since both were now covered in blood. Bobby was hard-pressed not to gag since the sight of blood always made him a lil queasy, but still moved to heft her up from the toilet. He knew that being a lil queasy from such a sight was nothing compared to the agony she’d to be in, and he was more than a bit of a fighter. If she could manage to survive this level of agony every month that she didn’t conceive, with or without painkillers, he could survive seeing something he considered gross.</p>
<p>    “Let’s get her downstairs,” the teen said, moving to drag her left arm around himself.</p>
<p>    “Ya sure we oughta be putting her anywhere but back in bed?” he asked, wrangling her from her right side.</p>
<p>    “We switch beds and rooms when her period hits,” Richie chuckled. “Keeps her from having to fight the stairs when she’s in agony or hopped up on her painkiller.”</p>
<p>    A thoughtful look crossed his face as they worked together. “Ya know, that makes sense, if your room’s downstairs, kid.”</p>
<p>    “Keeps her from getting hurt, that’s for sure,” he told him.</p>
<p>    “Hey, ya don’t hear me arguing the point,” the bassist laughed, gently moving so he was walking backward in front of her. “Just grab my shoulders, sweetheart.”</p>
<p>    Morgana whimpered, managing to pull herself close enough to muffle a sob in his neck after he’d moved a couple steps down the staircase.</p>
<p>    “We’ve to work with her pace as much as kinda force her,” Richie said, gently gripping her waist from behind to help steady her. “We don’t wanna make her move too fast, but she’s a tendency to stop on the landing and not wanna move again, if we don’t make her keep going.”</p>
<p>    “Gee, I wonder why?” he dead-panned. “I’m sure I’d love running a marathon or going surfing, if it were me in this amount of pain.”</p>
<p>    The teen couldn’t help a laugh as they worked together to slowly get her downstairs, where they moved so they were flanking her again. As they made the turn that’d take them past his bed- and bathroom, as well as the coffee bar, Georgine was already hard at work on breakfast. She already knew that like humans, the sisters’d make themselves sick, if they took a painkiller on an empty stomach.</p>
<p>    By the Time they got her settled on the nearest End of the couch, the middle-aged woman was bringing over a plate for her. In her other hand, she held a glass of milk so she’d have something to wash down both her food and the pill she’d eventually be handed. She was patient as she waited for Bobby to settle next to her, even the most gentle of movements making her whimper and tears roll down her cheeks. It was a downright pitiful sight to see, and it really had him rethinking his refusal to fuck her without a rubber since only being pregnant’d stop her from suffering like this.</p>
<p>    He managed to get her Calmed down enough to eat without choking, Richie Returning from having snuck back upstairs. Thanking him as he took the pill bottle he’d apparently gone to get from wherever it’d been hidden, he turned it around so he could read the label. Part of him wasn’t surprised to read the brand name Percocet, which he knew was basically a mixture of Tylenol and something a person wouldn’t get without being admitted to the hospital, but another part of him <em>was</em> still surprised.</p>
<p>    Shortly after being handed the bottle–which said she wasn’t supposed to take more than a single pill sooner than four hours, if that apart–the bassist was twisting off the lid. Morgana was clearly still in agony, considering she’d only killed off about half her breakfast, and it made his heart wrench again. He couldn’t stand seeing her like this, and even if he didn’t normally condone the use of such drugs, he wasn’t about to tell her no. Unlike most of the folks who took anything stronger than just Tylenol–such as his Darker equivalent, Nikki Sixx–there was no doubting that her pain was real. If she were faking this for attention or drugs, she prolly wouldn’t have been crying, let alone pretty much screaming just from breathing.</p>
<p>    “Relax, sweetheart,” Bobby murmured, gently pulling her against him after she’d swallowed the pill he gave her.</p>
<p>    “It hurts,” the older of the sisters whimpered.</p>
<p>    “I know it does,” he told her, gently kissing her forehead as he started massaging her lumbar. “I can tell you’re not faking this for attention or anything else.”</p>
<p>    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Dylan asked from where she was curled up next to Richie on the Love seat.</p>
<p>    Sighing, the bassist looked up at her. “There’s folks that we call <em>addicts</em> who’ll act like they’re in pain so they can get stuff like this.”</p>
<p>    “Really?” she asked, her eyes widening.</p>
<p>    “Unfortunately,” Bobby answered with a nod.</p>
<p>    “The sad part’s that a lotta musicians do that,” the teen beside her added. “They’ll start taking something like that supposedly ’cuz they’re stressed and need a way to relax.”</p>
<p>    “Next thing ya know, they get addicted–meaning that they can’t function without it–and they’ll do just about anything to get more,” his older counterpart continued. “Faking agonizing pain, robbery, murder–ya name it, it’s no doubt been done to get another fix.”</p>
<p>    “But you’re both musicians,” the younger of the sisters mused.</p>
<p>    “And the worst I do is drink alcohol,” he chuckled. “Sometimes, I’ll drink a lil too much, but I pay for it by suffering a hangover afterward.”</p>
<p>    “I’ve absolutely no interest in it,” Richie assured her. “Whether I’ve a baby on the way or not, I’d rather let Music be my drug since it’s healthier.”</p>
<p>    “Good choice, kid,” the bassist said. “I’ve tried a couple of the illicit things, and they’re not worth it.”</p>
<p>    When Dylan looked curiously confused, he explained that he’d done a lil experimenting for sake of relaxing or overcoming a Night of heavy drinking. He didn’t like how amped-up cocaine made him feel when added to his own Naturally high Energy levels, which was why he couldn’t understand why CC liked it so much. On the other hand, sedatives and other downers–like the ever-popular heroin–usually made him nauseous, if not outright sick to his stomach or too sleepy to function.</p>
<p>    Bobby said that while not every human reacted the same way, many often did when they were taking uppers or downers. Knowing how addictive both could be, especially for some people, that was why he didn’t normally condone their use for pretty much everyone. He’d seen plenty of the kinda trouble they could lead to, up to and including a person’s Death, and he didn’t wanna see his girlfriend get caught up in that Lifestyle.</p>
<p>    Luckily, Morgana’d made it clear the very first Time she’d sobered up from the Percocet that she honestly didn’t like how it made her feel. She didn’t like the dizzy feeling it gave her, nor how much it made her wanna sleep till its effects wore off hours after taking it. But she couldn’t tolerate the pain of her periods more, so she took it sparingly for the first Day or two before alternating between Advil and regular Tylenol. Those’d help relieve her pain once she was able to downgrade to super-absorbency tampons, which happened roughly halfway through her week-long periods.</p>
<p>    “Well, at least we shouldn’t have to worry about her getting addicted,” the bassist chuckled.</p>
<p>    “She won’t take it less than twelve hours apart most of the Time,” Richie told him. “Mostly ’cuz she’s asleep pretty much that whole Time, but still, she won’t if she wakes up sooner unless it’s especially bad.”</p>
<p>    “Believe it or not, that makes me feel even better about letting her have it when she needs it,” he admitted. “I mean, for all we know, certain things humanity uses might kill these two quicker than it’d kill us since they’re Neptunian.”</p>
<p>    “And we considered that when the OB/GYN was writing the scrip,” the teen said. “But we compromised at her getting the first dose in the ER so that if she <em>did</em> have an allergic reaction or something, she could be treated quicker.”</p>
<p>    “We even told the doctors we weren’t sure if she’d turn out to be allergic ’cuz she’d never taken it so we wouldn’t have to admit they’re technically aliens,” his mother added.</p>
<p>    “Which just makes me even happier, all things considered,” Bobby sighed, gently readjusting her when his arm started going numb from how she was laying against him.</p>
<p>    The older of the sisters moaned softly, a grimace momentarily crossing her features, despite being asleep again.</p>
<p>    “I know, sweetheart–I know,” the bassist murmured as he massaged her lumbar again.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmmm,”</em> Morgana hummed, nuzzling his chest as she settled back down.</p>
<p>    Assured that she wasn’t gonna wake up again, and that she wouldn’t be in pain if she did, he looked up at the other pair. Last he’d heard from his own girlfriend two months ago, they were getting closer than when Poison’d left back in April, but they weren’t officially together. It was still unclear whether they were or not, but he usually wasn’t one to stick his nose where it didn’t belong and get it dirty.</p>
<p>    Richie chuckled as he wrapped an arm around the younger sister’s shoulders, which allowed her to lean over against his chest. He admitted that he’d been wary at first ’cuz of all the mixed signals she’d been sending, but he’d finally asked her out a month ago. They’d been in an official relationship of their own since then, but there’d been a condition put on it right from the start. Just so they were sure in their decision and ’cuz they were so young, he refused to allow himself to be taken as a Lifemate yet. Waiting till she wasn’t as hormonal from her pregnancy and therefore thinking logically seemed like a better idea to him.</p>
<p>    The way taking a Lifemate was described to him made Bobby’s eyes widen, ’cuz it was identical to a different concept he’d heard of. Even Georgine was surprised when he told them that it sounded like the Soul bonding the Fae and Elves did in place of marriage. In addition to the Traditional Celtic handfasting where their hands were quite literally tied together, their very Souls were bound. While being able to feel everything one’s partner did physically and Emotionally might be good, the only way to sever such a bond was one party’s Death.</p>
<p>    Hearing it put that way, the teen looked down at his girlfriend with wide eyes of his own, wanting confirmation on the subject. Nodding as she Returned his gaze, Dylan told him that once a Neptunian took a Lifemate, it was quite literally till Death did they part. In not knowing quite how to put it since she’d never heard of a Soul bonding before, she hadn’t tried to argue the condition he’d put on even dating her. She wholeheartedly agreed with him on being absolutely certain when she took a Lifemate, ’cuz no matter how it was phrased for him, it was a Blessed serious undertaking. Neither’d be able to escape the bond formed till one of them died, and she wasn’t willing to sacrifice her own Life to End it. To that End, she hadn’t expected him to do anything she wasn’t willing to, which’d include such drastic measures in place of a divorce.</p>
<p>    With that explained so both males could seriously ponder their Futures, talk quickly shifted to the baby that was still in the making. She was said to be growing at the same rate a full-blooded human typically did, which meant this was prolly gonna be a nine-month pregnancy. Nobody was entirely sure if that was ’cuz Neptunians were just that similar to humans or not, but they didn’t really care. The thing that mattered to all of them was that she was healthy and growing, despite both her parents suffering through sickness as a result. Even still, that made the bassist smile as he glanced down at Morgana’s sleeping face, that Intel weighing in on the decision he was Intent on making while she was down and out for the count.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Twelve</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>October, 1986 </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After their show in San José on August twenty-sixth, the tour really kicked into high gear for Poison, their manager Vicky, and their road crew. Instead of having only a show per week on average, then two weeks off, their precious few Days off were only every two or three Days. Sometimes, half that Time off was spent cooped up on their bus, Traveling to the next venue in the next City, which left them confused and exhausted more often than it didn’t. Course, staying up late to party their asses off most Nights didn’t help with that, but they still gave in to the Temptation, anywhore.</p>
<p>    Outta all the wild and crazy shit they got into on the road, fuckin’ anything with a pussy that drew breath like he’d have done even six months ago <em>wasn’t</em> one of the things Bobby did. Even though he highly doubted she’d find out, he treated his relationship with his girlfriend as if they were actually Soul bound. It felt like something that was too precious and special to tarnish by doing something like cheating, even though that left more than one groupie highly disappointed.</p>
<p>    But one thing he’d made sure of when they’d been booking their tour dates was that they’d at least have the Night off on October thirtieth <em>and</em> thirty-first. While he preferred that they be at home for a break, as long as they’d those two Nights off, he’d find a way to make do. Naturally, that’d made the rest of the guys question his insistence on that, which’d just made him shrug a single shoulder. He told them that if he wouldn’t ask them to work on any of their most precious holidays, <em>they</em> shouldn’t ask that of <em>him.</em> They’d been confused by that response, but all he’d say beyond that was that it was Pagan and he wasn’t wasting his breath on explaining something they were likely to argue with him about.</p>
<p>    However, after his explanation about Neptune and what it Lorded over in Astrology, they proved to be far more curious than he’d have ever given them credit for. They continuously bugged him about it till he’d finally taken one of their Days off when they were stuck on the bus and gathered even the crew together. It was a bit of a long explanation, but he tried to dumb it down as much as he possibly could so they’d understand.</p>
<p>    To him since he followed the Celtic Pantheon, the Night of October thirty-first wasn’t Halloween like it wasta them–it was the Sabbat known as <em>Samhain.</em> As the precursor to what was now Halloween, it was the origin of shit like jack-o’-lanterns and trick-or-treating, but it was also so much more. It was the Darker of the two Spirit Nights, the Light counterpart being <em>Beltane</em> on May first, as well as the Celtic New Year. The Ancient Celts’d picked that date not outta some desire to stand out from the crowd, but ’cuz it was when the Sun was at its lowest point in the Sky as measured by monuments such as Stonehenge. And due to its significance in those ways, it was one of the Days and Nights of the Year that he absolutely refused to work unless he’d no other choices, much like they said about Christmas.</p>
<p>    “But why’dja insist we get the thirtieth off, too?” Rikki asked as they rode home.</p>
<p>    “’Cuz Ancient cultures measured Time like the Jews and Muslims do,” the bassist answered. “They consider the Beginning of each new Day to be at Sunset, not Sunrise.”</p>
<p>    “So, that means this <em>Samhain’d</em> start at Sundown on October thirtieth,” Bret breathed, Enlightenment Dawning.</p>
<p>    “Bingo,” he chuckled, nodding. “Normally, I wouldn’t do my spell work on the Sabbat itself, but I wasn’t gonna demand <em>too</em> many Days off for something that’s significant to only me.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, spell work?” the drummer asked, his eyes widening.</p>
<p>    “Part and parcel of being a Witch, numb-nut,” Bobby laughed. “I usually do my Rituals in private so nobody else’s Energy interferes with my spells.”</p>
<p>    “Jeez, I didn’t think ya were actually into that shit when ya saidja were Pagan,” he said.</p>
<p>    “It’s not shit to those who believe in it,” the bassist scolded him. “Whaddaya think’s kept us from getting caught up in more than the ensuing traffic jam of a few nasty wrecks?”</p>
<p>    “Man, that was just coincidence,” CC laughed.</p>
<p>    “Believe whatcha wanna, C, but I know I put a Protection spell on this bus before we ever left the first Time,” he retorted.</p>
<p>    Three sets of wide, blue eyes and plenty more of green and varying shades of brown stared at him as their owners gaped at him.</p>
<p>    “I know just how powerful I really am, and I feel absolutely no need to prove it,” Bobby told them. “But it’s a really bad idea to piss me off enough to come after ya magickally, ’cuz as a Water Witch, I can go overboard with my Revenge–even when I don’t mean to.”</p>
<p>    “Ya might not feel the need to prove your Power, but now I’m kinda curious,” the vocalist admitted.</p>
<p>    “Easiest way for me to show ya depends on how much ya trust me,” he said with a shrug. “’Cuz while I’m not gonna kill ya–after all, ya haven’t pissed me off <em>like that</em>–it’s gonna be terrifying.”</p>
<p>    Bret stared at him for a moment again, wondering just what he could mean by that before ultimately nodding his consent. He was too curious <em>not</em> to find out what he meant, and short of his family, there was no one he trusted more than the other guys who made up his band. Course, they were like the brothers he’d never had growing up, so he’d have been crazy to say he didn’t trust them.</p>
<p>    Smirking almost mischievously, the bassist focused his attention on him more intensely than he’d ever done before. Unlike normal when he used his magick, he allowed it to glitter slightly so those who <em>weren’t</em> his target could see what he was doing. He knew the tingle his friend was gonna feel to start off with was gonna startle him, but no one else woulda known what was up for several seconds. No doubt they’d have just thought what happened was just a coincidence, just like they’d thought about the Protection spell he’d cast on their bus for all their safety.</p>
<p>    At first, the vocalist felt that tingle on his flesh that seemed to seep in deeper, but he didn’t really think anything of it. The ensuing tickle in his throat that made him cough like he was trying to clear it wasn’t really anything to be concerned about, either. But his starting to gasp for Air at about the same Time Bobby squinted like he was glaring at him <em>was</em> something to be concerned about, all the others letting out startled cries as he gagged and tried to cough again.</p>
<p>    Chuckling softly as he retracted his Power as slowly as he’d unleashed it on him, he watched as he went from gagging and choking to panting like they’d just played a show. He didn’t wanna give him a head rush or anything by releasing that magickal pressure too quickly for his system to handle. But seemingly quicker than he’d started using his magick on him, even the tingle Bret’d felt around his neck was completely gone. It was like it’d never even been there as he coughed again and reached up to rub his throat, but he knew he wasn’t crazy. There was no logical explanation for what he’d just felt and experienced, but there was no denying what even the others’d seen with their own eyes.</p>
<p>    “Holy fuckin’ shit, dude!” Rikki said, staring at one friend in shock while rubbing the other’s back in a Comforting gesture.</p>
<p>    “Hey, I warnedja that I’m pretty powerful,” the bassist laughed.</p>
<p>    “No fuckin’ shit,” Bret mused, sounding a bit breathless. “I’ve never been choked like that without somebody actually touching me.”</p>
<p>    “Hence why I let my magick glitter for once,” he told them. “I knew you’d feel the tingle of it, but the others wouldn’t believe it was actually ’cuz of me, if they couldn’t see it.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, it doesn’t always do that?” the guitarist asked, surprise coloring his features.</p>
<p>    “Not unless I let it,” Bobby answered, shaking his head. “Which’s why ya don’t even notice when I use it for something unless I start making things float.”</p>
<p>    “Dude, there’s no fuckin’ way,” the drummer said.</p>
<p>    Cocking his brow as if saying <em>You’re seriously gonna challenge me?,</em> he used said magick to brew himself a cup of coffee, which floated over to him once it was done.</p>
<p>    “Jesus, it was like somebody made it and brought it over to ya!” Rikki breathed as he sipped it.</p>
<p>    “Toldja so,” the bassist chuckled after swallowing. “I just don’t normally use my magick so frivolously unless I’m on a serious Time crunch.”</p>
<p>    Now realizing just how powerful their friend truly was, the blondes, their manager, and their crew were all a bit scared of him. However, even though they were all carrying a healthy dose of Fear toward him, they all had a new Respect for Bobby. They realized he was capable of things none of them were, and in ways they couldn’t even Begin to truly understand in the slightest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Upon getting back to Los Angeles on the Morn of October twenty-eighth, the guys all went their separate ways at first. All the blondes said they actually wanted to see Bobby’s <em>Samhain</em> Ritual, if he’d let them, but they needed some Time apart. They’d been cooped up on the bus together more than they hadn’t been for almost three months, after all, so they could use the Time apart and Spaceta spread out. Besides, they knew he and Bret were both anxiousta see their girlfriends again and spend some Time with them while they could.</p>
<p>    Only ’cuz even Richie and the Neptune sisters were wanting to see one of his Rituals for themselves did he agree to do one more or less publicly. His only condition was that they not complain about him being nude the whole Time, ’cuz he never did them clothed. Wearing even his Ceremonial robe’d interfere by disrupting the flow of Energy, which he definitely didn’t want happening on the Spirit Nights.</p>
<p>    At first, they’d all seemed a lil dubious about sitting in on such a practice, if he was gonna be nude, but they’d quickly decided that such a thing didn’t matter to them. If seeing the bassist Sky-clad was what it took to actually see one of these Rituals in action, they could overlook it the one Time. Even Rikki understood that–unlike during a <em>Beltane</em> Ritual–it wasn’t like there was gonna be anything sexual involved just ’cuz he was nude. Then again, he wouldn’t have agreed to let them sit in, whether he was Intent on impregnating Morgana or not, if anything sexual was gonna be involved. He was generally too private a guy to want an audience for his sexual escapades, whether they were for a Ritual or not.</p>
<p>    Since his parents’d gone back East to visit his siblings while they’d the chance, Richie’d agreed to letting this be done at their apartment. At least if anything sexual wound up happening after the fact, the bassist could just drag his girlfriend upstairsta her bedroom so they’d privacy. He doubted that’d End up being the case as he answered the knock at his front door, not surprised to find the rest of Poison waiting. Nodding as he let them in, he told them to keep quiet for a bit, lest they’ve a crabby bassist to contend with, if they disturbed him before he was ready to be.</p>
<p>    “He’s Grounding and Centering himself again before he even starts setting up for the Ritual,” the teen chuckled as he closed the door behind them.</p>
<p>    “Grounding and Centering?” Bret queried, cocking a brow.</p>
<p>    “The way he explained it to me, it’s basically meditation on steroids,” he answered with a chuckle. “He tendsta do it when he’s getting a lil too scattered, but especially before a Ritual.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, you’ve seen him do a Ritual before?” the drummer queried, his eyes widening.</p>
<p>    “No, I haven’t, but he’s told me, Dylan, and Morgana his typical pre-Ritual habits so we won’t disturb him,” Richie laughed. “Trust me, ripping him outta even a mild trance prematurely without a damn good reason isn’t a smart idea.”</p>
<p>    “I’m guessing that’s happened before,” he chuckled as they settled on the couch.</p>
<p>    “A couple Times when the phone’d ring and he wasn’t expecting it,” the teen told them. “That kinda thing rips him outta his trance so hard and fast that it’s like an instant migraine for him.”</p>
<p>    <em>“Ooh,</em> ouch.” Even CC couldn’t help a sympathetic wince.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, it’s not pretty,” he said. “Course, nothing beats Morgana’s period, as far as I’m concerned.”</p>
<p>    “Yeesh, she turn into an <em>über</em>-bitch or something?” Bret asked.</p>
<p>    “No, but we wouldn’t blame her, if she did.”</p>
<p>    Looking over at the door set back slightly behind the coffee bar that’d been closed, they saw Bobby emerging with the sister in question tucked against his side. He seemed like he was torn between wincing sympathetically and wearing a deadly serious expression, and they weren’t quite sure what to make of that. While he was often the most serious outta them, he’d quite the goofball aspect to his personality, too, so he almost never let himself be quite <em>this</em> serious.</p>
<p>    Settling on the Love seat next to Richie and pulling her down into his lap, he quickly explained what he meant since he could tell one of them was about to ask. Morgana couldn’t help the pink that tinged her cheeks as he walked them through the carnage he’d gotten home to three months ago. It was embarrassing to have to explain such bodily functionsta much of anyone, but especially someone who couldn’t and didn’t suffer even a fraction of her agony. Thankfully, they were all pretty understanding and sympathetic guys, all of them admitting that they’d have been <em>über</em>-bitches under those circumstances, too.</p>
<p>    However, Rikki freely admitted that now he fully understood why Dylan’d tried to jump him their very first Night on Earth. If she suffered the same thing when she wasn’t pregnant, he couldn’t say that he blamed her for doing anything she could to avoid such agony. Course, knowing that before mighta gotten him to throw Caution to the Wind and just give in to her whims, which’d been half-demand and half-request.</p>
<p>    “Maybe so, but I think we’re all happy enough with the End result,” Bobby chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Can’t say I’m <em>not</em> happy about having a girlfriend or a daughter on the way,” the teen agreed. “I mean, I still kinda Wish I was at least Bobby’s age, but at least I actually <em>have</em> a job and parents willing to help me.”</p>
<p>    “I kinda figured there was no way ya were paying for a place this snazzy on your own,” Bret laughed. “Not without robbing a bank, that is.”</p>
<p>    “Dad actually got offered a promotion that woulda required moving out here at the same Time all this started,” he admitted. “And since it woulda taken too long to find an actual house and one of Mom’s friends owns this complex, it was the better option.”</p>
<p>    “Nothing wrong with that, kid,” Rikki chuckled. “Kinda makes me wonder if that family friend would be willing to help us out, though.”</p>
<p>    “Not if you’re gonna be having concerts and throwing wild parties all the Time,” Richie told them. “Practicing quietly–occasionally loudly–is one thing, but constant racket’ll getcha evicted, even by Christina.”</p>
<p>    “And of course, even knowing you won’t Change her mind,” the vocalist mused.</p>
<p>    “I Wish it were different, but this place’s pretty sedate, so she likes keeping it that way,” the ten said. “And honestly, considering how much I work, I like it that way myself.”</p>
<p>    “Hey, at least I’ve been helping ya out by giving ya damn near all my money to cover whatcha spend on Morgana for me!” Bobby laughed.</p>
<p>    “True, not that I woulda askedja to,” he agreed with a chuckle. “It’s not like she can get a job, after all.”</p>
<p>    “What happened to shit like the fake IDs we got them?” the drummer queried.</p>
<p>    “They still exist and are believable enough,” Richie answered. “But it’s not exactly smart to be trying to get a job even running a register when she’d have to call out an entire week a month, half that week spent hopped up on Percocet just to keep her from crying.”</p>
<p>    “Jesus, it’s seriously <em>that</em> bad?” CC asked, unable to help another wince.</p>
<p>    Nodding as he rose so he could start setting up for his <em>Samhain</em> Ritual, the bassist said that her periods <em>did,</em> indeed get that bad. He hadn’t quite believed the teen when he’d started explaining that part to him, but he’d quickly been proven to be telling him the Truth. There was no denying it when he’d witnessed the start of her period only moments after he’d finished explaining what that trip to the ER’d revealed, after all.</p>
<p>    As he stretched out a roll of wax paper, which was cut to size and taped down to the edges, Bobby didn’t say a word about what else he was considering. <em>Samhain</em> mighta been the Darker of the two Spirit Nights and better suited to all things Death, but he hadn’t been kidding about it also being the Celtic New Year. He didn’t think there was a better Time to dive head-first into something as Life-Changing as fatherhood than New Year’s, no matter when it was celebrated. Then again, since his girlfriend may not be fertile just yet, they might not succeed in such an attempt till <em>Ostara</em> or <em>Beltane. </em></p>
<p>    The others–including a heavily-pregnant Dylan once she came down from her nap–watched with rapt attention as he started making several trips into Richie’s bedroom. Even though they offered to help him, he was quick to turn down even Morgana’s offer, despite it meaning more trips for him to make. He said that the things he was bringing out could collect Energy, and he didn’t want them getting tainted when he didn’t have Time to give them a thorough Cleansing before his Ritual.</p>
<p>    None of them truly understood what he meant by that, but they didn’t try to argue the point with him, either. Even Bret knew that the bassist better understood these things since he’d been raised as a Pagan, and that the ignorant trying to argue on something they were clueless about wouldn’t get them anywhere. Besides, trying to argue with him’d prolly throw off his focus, which he didn’t wanna see happen during something like even a minor Ritual. He didn’t want that choking example from earlier that month on their bus turning far more dangerous ’cuz he was even slightly distracted. The others seemed to agree, Rikki and CC being the onesta remember that afternoon since they’d witnessed it for themselves.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Thirteen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once he’d gotten his supplies set up the way he wanted them, Bobby pulled out his Zippo and flipped its lid open. Striking its wheel so the flint’d produce a spark that’d ignite the accelerant-soaked wick, he picked up his lone Silver Candle and held its own wick steady within the Flame. When it caught after a few seconds, he kept it held sideways as he snapped his lighter shut, which extinguished its Flame and allowed him to lay it aside without setting anything else ablaze.</p>
<p>    Starting with his lone Golden Candle, he lit the remaining eight Candles he’d brought out, the majority of which looked like they belonged in a Catholic cathedral. When the final one–which was roughly the same shade as Richie’s Sea-blue eyes–was lit, he settled the Silver taper into its designated holder. It was then that he grabbed his lighter again, this Time to light a couple sticks that resembled sparklersta those who knew what those were. Almost as soon as they’d caught, he blew them back out so they produced thin tendrils of Smoke like he’d just blown out his Candles instead. That was when he settled the thin, smoking sticks in something that kept them upright, which was positioned to his right.</p>
<p>    The next thing the bassist did was rise from where he’d been kneeling next to the Kotzens’ coffee table, which was his makeshift Altar. Once on his feet, he reached down and grabbed the hem of his shirt, which was quickly hauled over his head so it could be cast aside. He gave the group a stern look as he then reached down to unbutton his fly, his next words being words of warning. Now was the Time to leave, if they’d Changed their minds due to nudity being more or less required when he performed a Ritual. If they tried to leave for even a potty break in just a couple minutes, the consequences were potentially dire for all of them.</p>
<p>    Not even Dylan’d Changed their mind about wanting to watch, which earned them an approving nod as he unfastened the button of his jeans. Shoving them down over his hips so they almost immediately dropped to his ankles since they weren’t skin-tight for once revealed that Bobby’d been running around commando. He couldn’t help a soft snicker as he bent down to pick up the denim, mostly ’cuz of the appreciative look his girlfriend was shooting him. After all, she loved getting to see him nude, so even though it was for a relatively serious purpose right now, such a sight was still a treat for her. Even still, he didn’t let that distract him as he folded his jeans and laid them aside with his already-folded shirt. It was then that he took a deep breath, his eyes Darkening in the flickering candlelight as he fell into his typical Ritualistic groove.</p>
<p>    Kneeling next to the coffee table-turned-Altar, he reached into the small Wooden chest he’d brought outta Richie’s room not long ago. From it, he produced an Ebony-handled, double-edged dagger that looked like a mini-Sword and something straight outta a Fantasy novel. Passed down through generations of his family, it contained magick far stronger than his own, which none of the others could even Begin to handle.</p>
<p>    Taking the utmost care, as if it were a fragile infant, Bobby laid the dagger on his makeshift Altar in front of himself. He then sprinkled a pinch of dirt from the bowl in front of him over its blade, which was then followed by flicking a few drops of the fluid from what looked like a fancy, old-World wine glassta his left. Once that was done, he picked it up again so he could pass the blade through the Smoke produced by those sticks, then the Flame of all nine of his Candles.</p>
<p>    <em>“Athame, Athame, Stàilinn dhomhsa–ann an ainm nan Sinnsearan, tha mi a ’coisrigeadh dhut. Athame, Athame, liath mar a ’Mhuir–ann an ainm nan Sinnsearan, tha mi a’ coisrigeadh dhut. Athame, Athame, fìor agus saor, I Coisrigeadh dhut. Mar gu hàrd, mar sin gu–mar a nì mi e, mar sin cuir air adhart e,”</em> the bassist said, surprising the others as he held his hands palm-down over it.</p>
<p>    “The fuck didja just say?” Bret asked, confusion coloring his voice.</p>
<p>    <em>“Athame, Athame, Steel for me–in the name of the Ancestors, I Consecrate thee. Athame, Athame, gray as the Sea–in the name of the Ancestors, I Consecrate thee. Athame, Athame, true and free, I Consecrate thee. As above, so below–as I Will it, so mote it be,”</em> he repeated, this Time in English. “I just said it in Scotch Gaelic outta Respect since pretty much any Celtic language works and I’ma be working with Celtic Deities.”</p>
<p>    “Can’t say that’s necessarily a bad thing,” the teen mused as he picked up his dagger again, this Time rising and turning so he faced a specific Direction.</p>
<p>    Holding the dagger in front of himself with both hands, Bobby turned in a slow, clockwise Circle as he spoke again. <em>“De stàball Talamh, Sgriosach Adhair, Glanaidh Teine, agus Glanadh Uisge cho gorm, tha mi a ’tilgeadh a’ Cearcall seo cothromach agus fìor.” </em></p>
<p>    The entire group shivered, the hair on the backs of their necks and their forearms standing on End as they suddenly felt like an invisible wall roseta trap them.</p>
<p>    “The hell’dja say that Time?” Rikki queried.</p>
<p>    <em>“Of stable Earth, Destructive Air, Purifying Fire, and Cleansing Water so blue, I cast this Circle fair and true,”</em> the bassist answered as he knelt down again and laid his dagger back down.</p>
<p>    Focusing his attention on the faux Raven in the middle of his makeshift Altar, he didn’t let even his girlfriend rising to strip distract him. He already knew that Morgana was Intent on joining him for a couple parts tonight, which meant she’d also have to be nude. After all, having a physical embodiment of the Goddess he was Invoking–especially since she’d taken a variant of this Goddess’ name as her own–couldn’t be a bad thing. If anything, he figured it’d help him pay homage and show his Respect that much more, not to mention convince Her to help protect this strange woman as she learned more about humanity.</p>
<p>    “All hail the Phantom Queen, bathing with feet spread to each side of the River Unius,” Bobby Began once she was kneeling beside him. “We salute your lusty Nature, Warrior of Warriors–take pleasure in your tryst with the Dagdha, as Life and Death come together.”</p>
<p>    “May we take heed when we see your Raven marking Death and End of Year,” his girlfriend said, her voice steady as she read from the piece of paper he’d written her lines on for her. “May we take heed when we see your Wolf–the Wolf may not harm us, but we know to Fear.”</p>
<p>    “May we take heed when we see your Eel marking a need to retreat,” the bassist continued, his lines recited from memory. “May we take heed when the Red Heifer stampedes–when this happens, we know we’ve lost.”</p>
<p>    “We pray for your favor–we give ya the milk of Healing, the honey of Joy,” Morgana read, not quite understanding the meanings of these phrases.</p>
<p>    “We ask your Wisdom, thatcha reveal to us the spells of your Victories–that your Power Travel in tongues, and that we may draw the Peace of the Skies down to the Earth and our battles be won by the hand of your magick,” he said, letting his eyes drift closed as he tilted his head back. “As above, so below–as we Will it, so mote it be.”</p>
<p>    “So mote it be,” the strange woman echoed, knowing that phrase was basically the Pagan equivalent of <em>Amen. </em></p>
<p>    At that point, Bobby encouraged her to rise with a hand on her bare rump that gave her a gentle upward push. Nodding, she took a deep breath as she pushed herself up to her feet, unable to help her slight Anxiety as she assumed the same position as when they Grounded and Centered themselves outside. Her feet automatically planted themselves at shoulder’s-width apart, her hands rising so they were palm-up and slightly above her shoulders. This was the part she already knew was for her, alone since he’d already specified that it was, and that he’d have his own solo part immediately afterward.</p>
<p>    “Warrior Woman, free and Wild, stir memories of Women of War–stir memories of Women of Death,” the strange woman said, still reading from the paper he now held up for her. “We’ve forgotten these Powers, alongside forgetting our wombs Bless the Land.”</p>
<p>    The guys all listened curiously, all of them casting sidelong glances at the younger of the sisters, specifically her swollen belly.</p>
<p>    “Show us where to reach deep into ourselves, to find the point between temporary and Eternal, to draw Power during our moments of struggle,” Morgana continued, amazed by how powerful she suddenly felt. “Lady who Transforms from Raven to Wolf to Eel to Heifer, show us what we must do to Transform ourselves, to live according to Truth and beyond petty rule. As above, so below–as I Will it, so mote it be.”</p>
<p>    “So mote it be,” her boyfriend echoed.</p>
<p>    As she lowered herself so she was kneeling again, the bassist took his turn to rise with a fluid Grace none of his friends were used to seeing from him. Rikki, Bret, Richie, and even CC were enthralled as they watched him take an identical stance, his own head tipping back as he did so. But unlike his girlfriend, his eyes slipped shut since he’d his part memorized and didn’t need to read it off a sheet of paper. He’d been doing this same Ritual every Year since he was sixteen, so he’d like to think he’d remember how it went by now.</p>
<p>    “Lady who tricks the wanton Warrior, be Merciful–let us know ya on the Fields of battle, as well as in the Shadows of home,” Bobby said, his voice settling into a deeper timbre than normal. “Shouldja offer your friendship, your thighs and your Wisdom’ll both be held in high esteem. You’re Sovereign–we bow to your skill.”</p>
<p>    The second he closed his mouth, he let his neck crane so his head was bowed as he dropped back down to kneel next to Morgana again. He simply knelt, his head still bowed and Silent as Death, as he awaited the same sensation that’d made him rise after she’d knelt down again. It was how he knew the Morrígan’d heard what was said to her and given her permission for the Ritual to continue. Till he felt that sensation again, he refused to move a muscle aside from breathing, which was an involuntary function. As far as he was concerned, it was simply disrespectful to do otherwise till the one he considered his Patron Goddess allowed him to, which he couldn’t explain to the others just yet.</p>
<p>    Once he felt the tingling run down his spine and limbs–which woulda made a lesser man shiver–the bassist waited for a couple more moments. Upon feeling something akin to a warm blanket wrap around his nude form and his Pentacle gently warm where it rested on his chest, he finally raised his head. It was then that he grabbed his girlfriend’s hand, gently raising it and his other to just above his shoulders like before.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the Dagdha, lusty King, Warrior of appetites, he with Stamina enough to please the Morrígan,” Bobby Began.</p>
<p>    “We praise your mighty calves, we praise your mighty arms, we praise your mighty belly, we praise your mighty brow,” the strange woman said, reading from her paper once again.</p>
<p>    The others were hard-pressed to bite back snickers and giggles, which earned them a sharp look from the bassist.</p>
<p>    “May ya bear your club to defend us–may those who grantcha sanctuary act in good Faith,” he continued. “May ya please all women, befriend all men, and win every battle.”</p>
<p>    “Hail the Dagdha!” the nude couple said in unison.</p>
<p>    Letting go of Morgana’s hand when he heard a booming, hearty laugh in his head, he rose again with that same fluid Grace as before. Bobby momentarily reached up to flip his hair back over his shoulders so it’d quit tickling his chest, not wanting his concentration broken overmuch. He never did his Rituals and spell work with his hair bound, but he wasn’t gonna tell the rest of the group why just yet. They’d see for themselves as he got to the actual Ritual, not just the prayers and Invocations he always started off with.</p>
<p>    “At <em>Samhain,</em> the World undecided, three Ladies weave fine the filmy Veil of Night,” the bassist said, watching the dancing Flames before him for a few moments. “Clotho’s knee churns the spinning wheel by which all Fortunes emerge–Lachesis assigns each thread spewed into her hands, assigns each vein its place in the great tapestry wrapping line-by-line alongside smaller and larger Fates.”</p>
<p>    It was the teen who figured out what he was talking about before he ever uttered that last word, which made his eyes widen slightly.</p>
<p>    “Atropos comesta the End, the middle, at bare starts cuts away, trims, or knotsta what binds us here,” he continued. “We seek the favor of these <em>Moirae–a</em> strong warp, a sweet weft, but once the knot’s made, we pray that we be woven of strong fiber. As above, so below–as we Will it, so mote it be.”</p>
<p>    This Time, even Rikki echoed those last four words, something just giving him the sense that he needed to.</p>
<p>    “Now, we get into the part I’m only doing symbolically for the moment,” Bobby announced, moving a pillow he’d slipped into one of his own pillow cases on so he could sit on it.</p>
<p>    “Whaddaya mean?” the vocalist queried.</p>
<p>    Laughing as he set up for the actual Ritual he’d in mind, he admitted that it’d normally be something he’d do in private. This Ritual was one Intended for a couple, and it involved something called the <em>Great Rite,</em> which was basically Ritual sex. However, the <em>Great Rite</em> could also be done in a symbolic manner, which was why he wasn’t letting that part stop him from performing the Ritual with an audience.</p>
<p>    “As long as that part gets done later, if you’re gonna,” CC chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Trust me, I don’t want an audience any more than she does,” the bassist laughed.</p>
<p>    “Well, go on, ’cuz now we’re all even more curious,” the drummer told him.</p>
<p>    Nodding, Bobby picked up his Athame again since he was the only one who actually knew how to cast a Circle. “This is our Time, this is our place–at the edge of Reality, where we both feel safe.”</p>
<p>    Everybody else watched as he spun in a slow Circle on his knees, all of them sensing this smaller barrier that formed between them and the couple.</p>
<p>    “The Lord and the Lady both walk here, beyond the Veil, free of mortal Fear,” he continued. “Above and below, within and without, surrounded we are in protective Clouds.”</p>
<p>    Settling on his ass, Bobby laid his Athame back on his makeshift Altar, knowing it wouldn’t be necessary for this next part. Once it was settled where it wouldn’t fall–even though it wouldn’t cut either of them, if it did–he nodded to his girlfriend. The strange woman Returned the nod as she moved to her own knees, her shoulders rising as she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Letting out that deep breath, she turned so she was facing the Direction she’d been told was East like she was supposed to.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the East, to the movement and Knowing–we look to the Direction you’re blowing,” she said before turning. “Hail to the South, to the Fires on the Hill–we look to ya to work our Will.”</p>
<p>    Even Dylan was Awed by the amount of Confidence she seemed to radiate now as she turned again.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the West, to the deep run Wells–we look to ya as we work our spells,” the strange woman stated before making her final turn. “Hail to the North, to the Darkened Earth–we look to ya in Death and Birth.”</p>
<p>    Morgana then settled on her knees, which allowed her to shift so she was actually sitting on a pillow next to her boyfriend. Even though he was a Water Witch, said boyfriend picked up his lighter so he could open and strike it again, then light another black and white Candle. He thought it more appropriate to let her do the next part since it involved fluid and she was actually from Neptune. It made more sense than him doing it since his Zodiac sign was ruled by Pluto, the Planet of Power, after all.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the Lord and Lady–we Wish ya well in your descent, Great Mother,” she said as he lit that next pair of Candles. “As ya know your lover shall we know our own.”</p>
<p>    Settling the white Candle to their right, the black one to their left, the bassist waited till she was ready to pop the cork on their bottle of Ritual wine.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the Morrígan and the Dagdha–we salutecha in your coupling this Night as the confluence of two Rivers, as Life and Death all come together,” Bobby said as she poured just a splash of that wine. “As above, so below–as we Will it, so mote it be.”</p>
<p>    “So mote it be,” the strange woman echoed as she set the wine bottle aside.</p>
<p>    Both settled so they faced each other, their legs crossed Indian-style as they simply stared into each other’s eyes. They remained Silent for a few moments, their breathing slowly syncing up as they allowed that Silenceta Honor the presence of the Invoked Deities. Once they’d both experienced a moment of blurred vision, the bassist declared himself open to his girlfriend, which allowed her to do the same to him.</p>
<p>    Morgana only moved to lay her palms flat against his when she felt a connection with him like she’d never felt before. With that physical connection made, they simply Returned to sitting Silently, staring at each other like they were looking into their partner’s very Soul. It was a bit strange for the othersta witness, especially when both started laughing softly and crying simultaneously, but they didn’t try to stop them. Something told them that the most interesting part was just on the horizon, which meant that interrupting them for explanations right now wouldn’t be smart.</p>
<p>    After several minutes, they finally moved so that their hands were no longer pressed together, which allowed them to brush away their tears. It was then that Bobby reached over to grab his Athame once again, his girlfriend taking hold of the cup she’d poured their Ritual wine into. The next thing she picked up was the match to the old-World wine glass already on the makeshift Altar. Keeping her hands steady, she then poured the wine into what only her boyfriend knew was actually called a Chalice when used in a Ritual like this.</p>
<p>    Taking the first sip of its contents, the strange woman Wished that said boyfriend never thirst before holding it out to him in a Silent offer. He let his lips twitch in a small smile as he took it, the sentiment Returned without hesitation before he took the second sip. As he swallowed that sip, he handed the Chalice back to her, his other hand raising his Athame to hover just above it. Once Morgana was ready, he lowered the tip of the blade into the remaining fluid as slowly as he could possibly manage. Both their hands remained as steady as if they were working together to perform brain surgery on someone, which surprised the group still watching from the sidelines with great interest.</p>
<p>    “As the God and the Goddess come together in the Rite that makes all things, as the Morrígan and the Dagdha come together for the confluence of Life with Death, so we come together in perfect Love and perfect Trust, in this Time between Time and this Space between Space,” Bobby said.</p>
<p>    “I guess that’s what he meant by <em>Great Rite,”</em> the guitarist whispered as he pulled the dagger back out and moved to wipe off its blade.</p>
<p>    “Must be, considering what he just said,” Bret agreed quietly, watching as they passed the odd wine glass back and forth several Times.</p>
<p>    “Can’t say it’s necessarily a bad thing,” Richie mused as they watched.</p>
<p>    “I’m just glad he chose the symbolic version,” the drummer chuckled. “’Cuz I really wouldn’t wanna see the sexual version.”</p>
<p>    “Already toldja that ain’t gonna happen, asshat,” he retorted, having heard their conversation. “Now, shut up so we can finish this since we’re almost done.”</p>
<p>    All their mouths clamped shut as they raised that odd-looking wine glass together, Morgana holding it by its stem while his hand wrapped around hers. To the small audience, it looked almost like they were saluting or toasting someone, whether it was each other or an outside party. Considering what the bassist’d said earlier, it very well coulda been a toast or salute to an outside party or two.</p>
<p>    “To the Morrígan and the Dagdha, to the Lord and the Lady, with Gratitude for your presence here, and with a loving farewell,” the couple said in unison. “May we never thirst for Understanding between us. As above, so below–as we Will it, so mote it be.”</p>
<p>    It was then that the strange woman roseta her knees again, this Time starting off so that she faced due North–and their small audience.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the North, where the World lives–we release ya with Love,” she said before turning to her left. “Hail to the West, where the Worlds meet–we release ya with Love.”</p>
<p>    Bobby simply sat quietly, watching as she turned again along with the rest of the group.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the South, where the Balefires burn–we release ya with Love.” She then turned to face the final Direction. “Hail to the East, where all Knowledge lives–we release ya with Love. As above, so below–as we Will it, so mote it be.”</p>
<p>    Taking up his Athame, the bassist moved to his own knees as she turned to face North again, and therefore the makeshift Altar and their audience.</p>
<p>    “We open the Circle now and here, to greet the Year free from Fear. As above, so below–as we Will it, so mote it be,” he said as he spun in a slow, counter-clockwise Circle.</p>
<p>    Morgana echoed his last four words as she felt the smaller of the two Circles that’d been surrounding just the two of them fall. They could tell that even the rest of the group felt when it disappeared, the invisible barrier that’d been between them now gone. But that Circle’d served its purpose by protecting them and keeping out even the slightest of negative Energy out while they were vulnerable.</p>
<p>    Leaving the Candles from their couples’ Ritual in a safe spot to burn themselves out, Bobby pushed himself up and took a moment to stretch. Since he was the one who’d cast it, he could cross the boundary of his Circle freely as much as he wanted to. If he didn’t simply cross it, he could extend that Energetic boundary so that he was still encased within its safety. Extending it was exactly what he choseta do now, though, as he grabbed what looked like a broom from where he’d propped it up next to the fireplace earlier when he’d brought out all his Ritual supplies.</p>
<p>    Shooting a look at the others that clearly said not to ask just yet, the bassist turned and headed for the staircase. He didn’t care that his bare ass was on full display as he headed upstairs with that obviously-handmade broom–he only cared about finishing up. That made him ignore the confusion he could feel in the Air as he spent the next few minutes on the second story. Even Georgine and Rich, Sr.’s suite wasn’t off-limitsta him as he worked, even though he normally wouldn’t invade their private Space.</p>
<p>    Once he was done up there, Bobby continued his work as he started making his way back down to the first story of the apartment. The others were clearly even more confused as they watched, considering that he appeared to be sweeping without his broom actually touching the floor. Even as he made his way through each room down here–including Richie’s–he didn’t allow the broom to actually touch the floor. When he’d seemingly swept up an invisible pile, he started the process of sweeping it through the living room toward the balcony door. It was only then that any of them heard him say a word, which finally Enlightened them to what he’d been doing for the past few minutes.</p>
<p>    “I sweep ya out, I turn ya about, troublesome Spirits–go to the Gods! Leave here for the Rivers, depart for the Skies–I bidja, fly!” the bassist said as he opened the balcony door. “I’ll not have ya linger with your venomous trouble–I’ll know, if ya hang on! I pry ya loose, claw by finger, and commandja with this charge.”</p>
<p>    Even Bret was enthralled as they watched him resume his faux-sweeping motion.</p>
<p>    “Count every drop of Water in every Lake, Ocean, River, and Sea–count every grain of Rice that ever was, count every grain that shall ever be,” he continued. “Count every leaf on every Tree that’ll fall or ever be. Never again Return–don’t come near those I hold near and dear, nor near me! As above, so below–as I Will it, so mote it be!”</p>
<p>    With a Vehemence and finality none of them could argue with, Bobby gave the door a gentle slam to emphasize his point. He then turned to prop his broom against the wall next to the fireplace where it’d essentially stood guard during the rest of the Ritual. Once it was settled so that it wouldn’t fall over, he Returned to where he’d knelt next to his makeshift Altar earlier in the Night.</p>
<p>    Looking up at the ceiling two stories over his head, considering the part of the living room they were in, the bassist took a deep breath. He knew this next set of Invocations–one in particular–was gonna get incredibly Emotional for at least four of them. But he couldn’t bring himself to close out even an informal <em>Samhain</em> Ceremony without doing this part first, no matter how Emotional it got. It was for that reason that he started with the Invocation that wouldn’t be quite as heart-wrenching, but would no doubt still pull a few heartstrings since it wasn’t like they were all made of Stone.</p>
<p>    “Hail the matriarchs, hail the patriarchs–come here, remember with us,” the bassist said. “Remember yourselves as grandmothers and grandfathers, as mothers and fathers, as aunts and uncles, as sisters and brothers, as daughters and sons.”</p>
<p>    “We remember ya with stories of Warriors, of Peace-makers, Healers, teachers, farmers, City-builders, poets, philosophers, and people we loved,” Morgana continued. “In memories of ya dwell living feeling. This is your spark, Eternal–an Ember cherished, a Light passed from one generation to the next.”</p>
<p>    Nodding his approval, he gently kissed her temple before rising back to his feet and turning toward the Love seat. Even though Richie cast him a curious look, Dylan shooting him one of confusion as he gently pulled her to her feet, he didn’t let himself back down. He knew this was the most Emotional part, and that his girlfriend was as likely to cry as her sister, so he wasn’t gonna try to get her to recite this part with him. She’d prolly choke up so much that even Neptunian wouldn’t come out sounding right, and the point wasn’t to upset them.</p>
<p>    “Barely here–a glimmer, a glimpse–then off ya went, beyond our reach,” he said, gently rubbing her belly at the same Time he rested a hand over her heart. “The grief for ya frees all our pains–fallen leaves, Darkened Skies, failed Loves, successful mistakes.”</p>
<p>    The strange young woman’s eyes grew misty as she almost immediately realized what he was doing.</p>
<p>    “We rail at Nature, so beautiful, ugly, and cruel–we rail at Fate, at every promise ever made, and every one ever broken,” Bobby continued. “Yes, we even rail at you.”</p>
<p>    Not even her teenage boyfriend could stop his eyes from welling up as it Dawned on him that he was Honoring her deceased daughter the only way he could.</p>
<p>    “This grief for the young–no taste is as bitter as fruit that withers on the vine untasted, no Sorrow as great as a child lost, never to know a loving touch,” the bassist concluded, somehow biting back tears of his own at the pain he saw in her eyes.</p>
<p>    Dylan didn’t bother trying to bite back a sob anymore as she launched herself at him, her arms wrapping around his neck as he leaned down. Her unborn daughter squirmed slightly as her belly pressed against his, momentarily squishing her into an uncomfortable position. Feeling those gentle, yet irritable movements served to remind her that while she’d suffered a great loss, it wasn’t the End of the World, though. If not for being so mistreated and suffering that loss, she wouldn’t have made the decision to accompany her sister on the voyage to find a new Planet to call home. That meant she wouldn’t have met Richie, and that she wasn’t likely to have this new baby on the way now–which meant she wouldn’t have a family to call her own.</p>
<p>    Letting go once she settled down, Bobby let the strange young woman Return to her boyfriend’s loving arms with a soft sniffle. He wore a small, almost Serene smile, able to feel how grateful she wasta know that there was someone else Intent on keeping her daughter’s memory alive. The fact that he’d never met that sweet lil girl before her passing just made it that much more meaningful to the women she’d left behind at a point all of them considered far too soon.</p>
<p>    “Time to get this wrapped up,” he chuckled. “’Cuz I might pass out for a nap after I get this Circle down, as is.”</p>
<p>    “I imagine it’s pretty draining, even without a bit of a meltdown,” Rikki mused.</p>
<p>    “Mostly ’cuz of the Energy that’s been stirred up, and using my own to maintain this Circle,” the bassist admitted with a nod.</p>
<p>    “Then let’s get to it, love,” his own girlfriend told him.</p>
<p>    Nodding again, Bobby raised his hands into that palm-up position just above his shoulders. “The Balefire flickers out as the Time on the Old Year Ends,” he said. “It’s the in-between hour, without a doubt–perilous moments till we light it again.”</p>
<p>    Even CC sat up a lil straighter as they all listened, their eyes watching the flickering Flames glint off his Pentacle as they danced.</p>
<p>    “Farewell to the trouble, farewell to the Joy,” he continued. “It all Ends just the same–with Mystery Shrouded in stories forgotten in the dying of the Flames.”</p>
<p>    The entire group murmured their own farewellsta the Old Year, as per how the Celtic calendar ran and measured Time.</p>
<p>    “Hail to the New Year,” Morgana said, rising to mimic her boyfriend’s stance at his side. “We Cleanse ya with Water, we giftcha with beer–we brighten ya with Fire, we Smudge your Air.”</p>
<p>    Even as she read, the bassist chuckled softly and moved to start Smudging the apartment from the top down.</p>
<p>    “Pass this brightnessta all here, that our efforts prove fertile in living good cheer,” she continued. “Buoy our Stories, make the World bright–greetings, New Annum, on this <em>Samhain</em> Night!”</p>
<p>    Not even Bret could help an excited cheer as they effectively rang in the New Year, albeit two months earlier than he was used to. Bobby Returned moments later, kneeling just long enough to set down the smoking bundle of herbs he’d taken with him when he headed upstairs. There was only one more part to the serious side of tonight’s celebration, which brought a smile to his face as he rose once again.</p>
<p>    “Ember warming, growing till the spark becomes the Flame–flicker and rise, brighten Dark Skies,” the bassist said, Returning to his spot next to his girlfriend.</p>
<p>    “Your Light sends our Love to the Stars,” Morgana said as he glanced over at her. “The Earth leans through that final curve, where heat and cold make full reverse.”</p>
<p>    “Through the turn be old as Time, our presence Rebirths this this tilt as new, yours and mine,” he continued.</p>
<p>    “What meteors lay in Earthly wake, what loved ones will the World forsake, what precious Love’ll come our way–all unknown to us on this Day,” the strange woman said Sagely.</p>
<p>    “But in it comes, the good and the bad–the New Year’s already burning.” Bobby’s smile turned knowing as he grabbed her nearest hand.</p>
<p>    “We feed it what we once had, so that the New Year feeds fresh yearnings,” they concluded in unison.</p>
<p>    With a final <em>So mote it be,</em> the couple lowered their hands as they bowed their heads one last Time before breaking their physical connection. Almost as soon as they broke that connection, he was quick to snatch up his Athame, and everybody was shocked as they watched. Unlike earlier when he’d cast his Circles and even taken down the one that’d surrounded just himself and Morgana, his hands weren’t nearly as steady. But even though it seemed like he was trying to hold a broadsword in front of himself, not a mere dagger, he didn’t allow himself to rush as he took down that first, bigger Circle.</p>
<p>    Practically the second that Circle came down, Bobby dropped to his knees next to his makeshift Altar, his entire body shaking. He managed to lay his Athame aside so he wouldn’t hurt himself, then simply flopped forward with a soft groan as he passed out. Only the pillows he and his girlfriend had been sitting on muffled the <em>thump</em> that woulda been heard in the apartment below them when he collapsed.</p>
<p>    It was Richie who took charge by making the rest of the guys stay back when they started to jump up so they could check on him. While he’d never seen him do any kinda Ritual till now, he <em>had</em> walked in on the aftermath of one a Time or three. He’d drained himself by maintaining the bigger Circle for so long that now, he just needed at least a single good Night’s rest to Return to normal. Getting two or three straight Nights of rest’d be better for him, but he’d eventually recover from his magickal exertion, regardless. The thing he figured would wake the poor guy before Morn was a need for food, which’d help him recover faster–otherwise, it’d prolly be from waking up horny or in need of a potty break.</p>
<p>    The teen was careful to keep his touch gentle as he rolled him onto his back, which made him let out a soft moan in response. Morgana moved in with his jeans, which she gently pulled up his legs till they were just below his crotch and ass. At that point, her helper lifted his hips just long enough to allow her to pull them completely up, then backed off as she was closing his fly. Once he was settled comfortably enough for now, they decided to just leave him be so she could get dressed, then they could start on food for everyone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Fourteen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A couple hours after passing out from his magickal exertion, Bobby woke with a groan to find himself stretched out on the floor. If not for the scents wafting around him triggering a Dream about what he normally made as a solo <em>Samhain</em> feast, he prolly wouldn’t have woken till the next Morn. Then again, as full as his poor bladder currently felt, he mighta woken sooner than Dawn–just not to fill any part of his body. He didn’t particularly care, though, ’cuz aside from needing to piss and being hungry, he’d admit that he could use a helluva damn good romp on top of it all.</p>
<p>    Morgana was the first to check on him as he pushed himself into a sitting position, a smile curving his lips as he realized that he was at least wearing his jeans. He no doubt had said girlfriend to thank for that, ’cuz she knew he was hesitant to be nude in front of his friends. No doubt he’d one of said friendsta thank in addition to her, though, ’cuz he knew she couldn’t lift even part of his dead weight on her own.</p>
<p>    Chuckling as he helped pull him to his feet, Richie admitted that he’d been the one to help her get his jeans back on him. He’d simply grabbed him by the waist in a way that allowed him to pull his hips up off the floor, so it wasn’t like he’d touched him inappropriately. Then again, it wasn’t like he’d have done such a thing with any ill Intent, or even ’cuz he’d truly wanted to do so. But they’d both agreed that they were better off leaving him shirtless just so they wouldn’t hurt his neck by trying to sit him up.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, definitely the better way to go,” the bassist chuckled once he was on his feet. “I don’t fancy even a mildly-injured neck, or I’d Swan-dive off the balcony.”</p>
<p>    “What’s that supposed to mean?” his girlfriend queried, a puzzled look on her face.</p>
<p>    “Basically, that I’d just jump to my Death of my own free Will,” he explained.</p>
<p>    The strange woman’s expression morphed into one of horror at the mere Thought.</p>
<p>    “But I don’t have a Death Wish, so no need to worry there,” Bobby assured her, leaning down for a quick kiss. “What I need is to go take a piss before I embarrass myself.”</p>
<p>    “Then go on,” the teen chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I managed to get your <em>Samhain</em> recipes pretty closeta right while ya were knocked out.”</p>
<p>    “If ya found my lil homemade cookbook and followed it down to the dot on every <em>I,</em> it should be right,” he told him as he headed into his bathroom since it was the closest.</p>
<p>    “If there’s one thing I can do pretty well besides play strings and drums, it’s follow directions,” Richie laughed as he headed into the kitchen again.</p>
<p>    The bassist couldn’t help joining his laughter as he closeted himself in his bathroom, which served to help drain his bladder faster. At least it allowed him to actually head for the kitchen to see how closeta perfect he’d gotten his recipes that much sooner. He knew his recipes could get a lil convoluted, especially for someone who’d lil-to-no experience in a kitchen, which was why he usually just took over anyone else’s kitchen. Course, giving it a shot while he was catching an unintended nap of sorts’d at least let the kid give it a shot, which was as good a placeta start as any.</p>
<p>    Much to his surprise, Bobby found that he’d actually gotten the recipes for his <em>Farmer’s Market Autumn Stew</em> and its Apple-Sweet Tater side dish pretty closeta spot-on. If any of their required herbs and spices were off in the slightest, it was by so lil that even he couldn’t taste the difference. Still, even though he nodded his approval, he was quick to slap together his Apple-Caramel cheesecake bars he made for dessert and get them in the oven.</p>
<p>    Even Dylan and Morgana shot him curious looks when he said there was one more part that he was gonna have to make two separate versions of. The blondes all understood what he meant by <em>virgin</em> when he said it was a drink to wash their meal down with, but it appeared that even Richie was confused by the use of that term. Disappearing into said teen’s bedroom, then Returning with two different bottles of liquor quickly answered that for him, though.</p>
<p>    “Jesus, how much of this shit’re ya gonna use, dude?” Rikki asked, holding one of the bottles so he could read its label.</p>
<p>    “Enough to make just about anyone forget to use a rubber,” the bassist answered with a laugh.</p>
<p>    “I’m scared to ask how much that is,” he said, sounding dubious.</p>
<p>    “Well, it’s a play on the classic Mint Julep, first of all,” Bobby explained.</p>
<p>    “Eh, sounds like it’ll be good,” CC mused, taking his turn to read <em>Jim Beam Maple</em> on one bottle, <em>Jim Beam Fire</em> on the other.</p>
<p>    “If this shit’s measured out right–and I fully Intend it to be–we’re basically looking at a quintuple-shot in every glass,” he told them.</p>
<p>    “Jesus fuck!” The vocalist’s eyes nearly popped outta his skull. “Just two glasses’ll knock just about anybody on their ass, man!”</p>
<p>    “Whyddaya think I’m not letting Dylan, Morgana, and Richie have the alcoholic version?” Bobby asked, cocking a brow at them. “And why I’ll make them live to regret it, if they get into it while the rest of us’re drunk off our asses?”</p>
<p>    “I’ve drank a few Times, but not like that,” the teen told him. “Five shots all at once’d prolly make me sick for a week straight.”</p>
<p>    “Five shots of what?” Dylan queried, looking confused.</p>
<p>    “This.” The bassist held up the liquor bottles. “Remember what I said about too much alcohol giving me a hangover the first Time I watched Morgana take her Percocet?”</p>
<p>    Her face actually paled a bit as she nodded.</p>
<p>    “Well, first of all, the ones I named aren’t old enough to drink, according to the law,” he explained. “But you’re definitely not, ’cuz alcohol’s not good for the unborn.”</p>
<p>    Nodding, even Richie agreed that occasional drinking during pregnancy usually wouldn’t hurt an unborn baby. But drinking too much alcohol–especially more or less all the Time–could hurt or even kill their daughter, which he didn’t wanna see happen. That was why, whether he wanted them to partake in the alcoholic version or not, he wasn’t gonna argue over being told no. It wasn’t fair to make her be the only sober person, their age notwithstanding, just ’cuz she was pregnant when at least <em>he</em> could maintain his sobriety for the Night, too.</p>
<p>    The strange young woman rubbed her belly as she nodded, quickly agreeing that even having just him remain sober was better than being singled out entirely. Having Morgana remain sober now that the Ritual wine’d worn off–not that she’d truly gotten drunk–since they were pretty sure she was a few months too young to legally drink made it that much more fair.</p>
<p>    It wasn’t long before Bobby’d finished mixing up his liquid concoctions, which he took care to label so it’d be easier to tell alcoholic from virgin. He purposely bit back his reaction when he taste-tested a single spoonful, ’cuz he wanted to be able to laugh at his friends’ reactions. All he Intended to tell them was that it was strong, ’cuz he doubted they’d truly understand just how strong it was without tasting it for themselves. But if he hadn’t bitten back his reaction to its strength, he’d have no doubt given it away and not gotten a good laugh at the others’ expense.</p>
<p>    “My only warning–don’t try to chug it, or you’ll <em>really</em> get hammered,” the bassist said as he and Richie served everyone.</p>
<p>    “I might need a double-dose of insulin, just for the alcohol,” Bret chuckled as he eyed the bowl, small plate, and glass that were set in front of him.</p>
<p>    Smirking, he didn’t say a word as he went back to the kitchen for his own serving.</p>
<p>    “Jesus Christ!” the drummer said, coughing after swallowing his first sip seconds later.</p>
<p>    “Did I forget to mention to take baby sips? Silly me,” Bobby laughed as he settled on the couch, their guitarist reaching over to rub his back.</p>
<p>    “This shit’ll make hair grow on even a woman’s chest, dude!” he swore once he’d settled down.</p>
<p>    “Is it seriously <em>that</em> strong?” the teen asked curiously.</p>
<p>    “Kid, we’re all seasoned drinkers, and I can’t say that I’ll have more than a single glass,” Rikki answered. “If I letcha try it for yourself, it’s the only sip you’re getting.”</p>
<p>    He looked a lil dubious about trying it when he said that.</p>
<p>    “I’ll bend on letting ya have a single sip, but I’m not budging beyond that,” the bassist chuckled.</p>
<p>    “Eh, I guess a baby sip won’t do much of shit to me,” Richie acquiesced, his Curiosity getting the better of him.</p>
<p>    Letting him take his glass since he was the closest with the alcoholic version, he simply watched with a smirk as he sniffed it. Bobby knew the liquor could be smelled like it wasn’t mixed with anything else, which bespoke it being a pretty strong drink. However, the scent didn’t really do shit to prepare him for how strong it actually was when he finally took that baby sip he was willing to let him get away with.</p>
<p>    The teen almost immediately gagged and coughed as he handed the glass back to him, barely getting that sip to go down without choking on it. As the others laughed, he managed to gasp that as much as he’d like to partake in the alcohol, he was good with the virgin version. He wasn’t looking to choke every Time he sipped his drink, or to wind up schnockered off his ass from just a single glass. Since he wasn’t a seasoned drinker like they were, he was pretty sure that even a single glass wouldn’t just make him sick as a Dog–it’d put him on his ass and leave him unable to work for a week.</p>
<p>    Bobby grinned and patted his back, saying that they drank like this and then some nearly every Night while they were on the road. Not only that, but they’d been drinking for several Years, even though they technically shouldn’t have been since the legal drinking age said they shoulda been twenty-one before they did. While they’d all had friends and/or relatives that’d let them get away with it, he’d the extra advantage of having the excuse of religious Ceremonies on his side.</p>
<p>    Even Bret was curious as to what he meant by that, which made him grin before taking another bite of his food. Once he’d swallowed and wouldn’t be at risk of choking, the bassist explained what he meant, which technically coulda gotten his mother in trouble. A lotta Pagan Rituals and Ceremonies involved wine, whether it was the offering or consumption of it by those participating. When she’d come out to visit for things like his birthday and a couple of the Sabbats, she’d help him stock up on his Ritual wine and the liquors he used in all his Seasonal variants of tonight’s drink. After all, California law made an exception on small amounts for religious Ceremonies for those under the legal drinking age.</p>
<p>    “The law doesn’t specify whether those Ceremonies’ve to be Pagan, Christian, Jewish, etc.,” he chuckled. “It just says religious Ceremonies.”</p>
<p>    “Which something like your <em>Samhain</em> Ritual’d technically constitute as,” the vocalist mused.</p>
<p>    “Or my Rituals for the other seven Sabbats,” Bobby clarified. “Even my Esbat Rituals when I chooseta do them, for that matter.”</p>
<p>    “Esbat–what the hell’s that?” CC queried, looking confused.</p>
<p>    “Full Moon Ceremony,” the bassist answered. “Of which, there’s technically thirteen since there’s thirteen Full Moons in a Year.”</p>
<p>    “Well, what’dja mean by seven other Sabbats?” he asked.</p>
<p>    “There’s tons of different holidays the World over, depending on which Pantheon or combination of them ya follow,” Bobby explained. “But there’s eight major ones pretty much every Pagan’s at least heard of that more or less divide the Year evenly.”</p>
<p>    “Sounds interesting,” the drummer mused after wiping his mouth.</p>
<p>    “Well, according to the Celtic Pantheon, we start out with <em>Samhain,”</em> he told them. “Then we move on to <em>Yule,</em> which’s basically the precursor to Christmas and when most other Pantheons celebrate their New Year’s.”</p>
<p>    “Wait, you’re saying shit like Christmas Trees’re actually Pagan?” CC asked, his jaw dropping.</p>
<p>    The bassist laughed as he explained that damn near everything used in Modern celebrations was actually Pagan at its very roots. A lotta the symbols seen at Christmas were Pagan, but so were a lotta the ones seen during Times like Easter and Halloween. In fact, he’d already said that <em>Samhain</em> was where things like jack-o’-lanterns and trick-or-treating’d originated Centuries ago.</p>
<p>    As he moved to start cleaning up from dinner, Bobby explained that <em>Yule</em> celebrated the Birth of the God’s next Incarnation much the same way Christmas celebrated the Birth of Jesus. However, it also celebrated the Return of the Sun, which started to Wax again till they reached the Summer Solstice in June. The next Sabbat on February second–which was called <em>Imbolc</em>–essentially celebrated the start of the Lambing Season and the fact that Winter was halfway over. It also celebrated the Celtic Goddess Brighid, who was considered a Fire Goddess among many other things She heralded over.</p>
<p>    Next was the first Spring Sabbat, <em>Ostara,</em> which was the precursor to the Christian holiday Easter and more or less celebrated the same thing. It celebrated the Resurrection of the Earth after a long, cold Winter, while the Christian rip-off celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus. But in addition to giving them Traditions like Easter Egg-hunting, it gave them their own holiday’s name since Easter derived from the Goddess Eostre. On top of that, it was more or less the Beginning of the courtship between the God and the Goddess for the Year.</p>
<p>    Following <em>Ostara</em> was the all-important <em>Beltane,</em> which was better known to the general population as May Day since it was celebrated on May first. As the Lighter of the two Spirit Nights and the Celtic start of Summer, it celebrated all things Life, especially when it came to Fertility. The Deities were even said to wed and mate, thus conceiving the God’s next <em>Yule</em> Reincarnation, during this particular Sabbat. It was where the Ancient taboo of getting married during the month of May came from, not ’cuz of folks wanting to wed after the End of a college school Year. Many considered it not just highly disrespectful to the Deities, but a source of some seriously bad Luck, especially in regardsta the marriage, itself.</p>
<p>    “After that, we’ve <em>Litha</em> on the Summer Solstice,” Bobby told them. “Basically, think a Fourth of July barbecue and pool party that celebrates the Power of the Sun at its peak and the God’s impending fatherhood.”</p>
<p>    “No Wonder ya basically gave me my own version of a baby shower back in June!” the teen laughed.</p>
<p>    “Exactly,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Even though I knew this baby girl wasn’t due till closer to <em>Yule,</em> there wasn’t really a better Time to celebrate the fact thatcha were gonna be a daddy by the same Time next Year.”</p>
<p>    “Hey, I didn’t complain then, and I’m not gonna now,” Richie said. “I’m just saying that it makes sense now.”</p>
<p>    “I kinda figured that’s whatcha were getting at,” the bassist agreed.</p>
<p>    “So, what’s next?” Rikki asked curiously.</p>
<p>    <em>“Lughnasadh,</em> or <em>Lammas</em> as some call it,” Bobby answered. “It’s the first of three harvest festivals.”</p>
<p>    “Seriously?” Even the vocalist was enthralled.</p>
<p>    <em>“Lughnasadh</em> celebrates the Grain and Corn harvest, which typically happens around late-July or early-August,” he explained. “That’s why that Sabbat’s on August first. Well, that and ’cuz it’s the polar opposite of <em>Imbolc,</em> and the way the Modern calendar’s laid out, August first’s six months after February second.”</p>
<p>    They all wore thoughtful looks as he explained that to them.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mabon’s</em> the final of the eight major Sabbats, and the polar opposite of <em>Ostara,”</em> the bassist concluded. “Think Thanksgiving mixed with <em>El Dia de Los Muertos,</em> ’cuz that’s the easiest way to explain it.”</p>
<p>    “How can ya mix those two things?” Bret queried. “Thanksgiving’s not till November.”</p>
<p>    “That’s as celebrated by most of America, ’cuz it’s in October up in Canada,” Bobby laughed. “But <em>Mabon’s</em> the second of those three harvest festivals.”</p>
<p>    He went on to explain that the Fields and Orchards were mostly bare by that Time of Year, ’cuz most folks’d been harvesting since as early as <em>Litha,</em> depending on the plant. By the Time the Autumn Equinox and the Seasonal Change that came with it rolled around, those folks were either looking forward to a long, hard Winter, or giving their thanks for having what they needed to survive till the next Spring. In addition to that, a bit of an angle on Death was added due to the Earth Beginning to die for the Year, but it wasn’t focused on as heavily till <em>Samhain</em> rolled around.</p>
<p>    Reclaiming his seat after the cleanup and refilling his drink, the bassist went into a more in-depth explanation of the Sabbat being celebrated tonight. Not only was it the third and final harvest festival, when things like Punkins and other Gourds were finally ready to be picked, it was when the God was said to die. The Veil between the Land of the Living and Land of the Dead was made thin on this Night by his passing through it.</p>
<p>    Bobby explained that much like <em>El Día de Los Muertos,</em> this Sabbat wasn’t meant to be an entirely Dark Time in the Year. Sure, there was a heavy focus on Death and Spirits of all kinds, but it was also supposed to celebrate the first half of Life triumphing over Death, Light over Darkness. After all, many Pagans didn’t consider Death to be the End, but rather the Beginning of a new chapter in the story. There was obviously gonna be some amount of Sadness, but it was also a happy Time when one remembered the concept of Reincarnation.</p>
<p>    “I mean, we’re talking about loved ones Returning to us, just sometimes in a different form,” he said.</p>
<p>    “Wait, really?” CC asked.</p>
<p>    “Perfect example–Richie and Dylan’s daughter could very well be a Reincarnation of her older daughter,” he told them.</p>
<p>    Said strange young woman’s eyes welled up again, this Time with happy tears at the Thought of her baby girl coming back to her.</p>
<p>    “Then again, she may not be such a Reincarnation–but it’s the perfect Time to attempt contacting her Spirit, if she hasn’t already crossed over,” Bobby continued.</p>
<p>    “Ya gotta be shitting me,” the guitarist said.</p>
<p>    “I barely knew her, but my dad’s mom comes back to me all the Time, especially on <em>Samhain,”</em> the bassist chuckled. “Usually to gimme a kick in the ass when I need it, but sometimes just to say <em>Hi.” </em></p>
<p>    Before anyone got a chanceta say anything, the lamp on the End table next to him flickered before going out for a few moments, then turning itself back on.</p>
<p>    “Hey, can’t blame me for taking my Time with that!” he laughed.</p>
<p>    “Da fuq was that?” the drummer asked, looking a bit freaked.</p>
<p>    “That aforementioned grama trying to get my attention, ’cuz she thought I wasn’t listening to her,” Bobby answered, grinning. “That, and saying <em>Hi</em> to everyone else like I said.”</p>
<p>    “Why would she think you’re not listening to her, though?” Richie asked.</p>
<p>    Chucking, Bobby explained that his deceased grandmother was of the old-fashioned mindset that he shoulda married and started a family closer to sixteen than not. She was glad that he finally found a sweetheart, but thought he was taking too long with popping the question to her. If he was taking too long with that, she definitely thought he was when it came to starting a family of his own since she was of the notion that their band wasn’t gonna take off and go anywhere.</p>
<p>    Turning his attention back to the Spirit only he could see that was still giving him a stern look, he told her that he’d start a family when he was damn good and ready to. Her riding his ass about it from beyond her grave wasn’t gonna do anything but make him even more stubborn on the matter. If he didn’t just go celibate, which wasn’t very likely, he’d just as soon start fuckin’ other guys so he’d still have willing, living partners.</p>
<p>    Everybody else cracked up at the Thought of him pounding or being pounded by another guy, but they could all feel the sudden shift in the Air. All of them felt a certain sheepishness that hadn’t been there before, which he said matched the look now on his grandmother’s face. He knew she’d never apologize–she was too stubborn and proud to actually say the words–but she was still sorry for making him feel pressured. Besides, she was really only being that way ’cuz both his older siblings already had a child apiece, and she didn’t wanna see his branch of their family Tree dying with him.</p>
<p>    “Well, I can’t say that’s necessarily a bad thing,” the teen mused. “I mean, yeah–I wanted my own family eventually, but I Wish I were older so I could provide for it better.”</p>
<p>    “Preferably on your own, right?” Rikki asked with a chuckle.</p>
<p>    “Well, yeah, but at least my parents aren’t abandoning me when I need their help,” he answered.</p>
<p>    “Did any of ya hear that?” Bret interrupted, turning to look toward his bedroom door.</p>
<p>    “Hear what?” the guitarist asked, his brows furrowing.</p>
<p>    “That!” he cried, pointing an accusing finger toward the door he was looking at.</p>
<p>    At first, none of them heard anything, but they heard what sounded like a giggle coming from the Darkened bedroom after listening for a few moments.</p>
<p>    “What the–” CC started, only to get cut off by a sudden sob.</p>
<p>    Even Richie looked confused by his girlfriend’s reaction, which included a barrage of Neptunian as she scooted as closeta the edge of the Love seat as she could.</p>
<p>    “Well, Bless the Moon,” Bobby chuckled as a lil transparent figure toddled outta the teen’s room moments later. “Looks like somebody else decided to come say <em>Hi.” </em></p>
<p>    Dylan was even more surprised when the lil figure made a wobbly beeline for her, then touched her knee with a hand that felt as solid as her boyfriend’s. She was further surprised when the lil figure managed to haul herself up onto the couch beside her, then crawled into her lap and hugged her neck. For a Ghost, her daughter f-elt every bit as solid as she’d felt the last Time she’d held her, when she’d died in her arms.</p>
<p>    Morgana couldn’t help a smile as she looked up at the blondes, whom she quickly brought up to speed so they understood what was going on. All three of them looked as horrified to hear about her baby sister’s loss as Richie’d once looked, but they also didn’t blame her for having not told them about it. They didn’t imagine losing a child of their own’d be any easier for them to talk about, so they understood the strange young woman’s reluctance. In fact, they made it clear that they weren’t gonna hold it against her, even though knowing woulda made dealing with her easier in certain ways.</p>
<p>    The ghostly lil girl–whom they said was formally known as Neptunian 0704–reached up to pat at her mother’s cheek. It was pretty obvious that she was attempting to wipe away her tears for her, a gesture they took to be the non-verbal version of <em>Don’t cry, Mommy–I’m happy and much better now</em>. Said young mother couldn’t help another sob, this one sounding happier, as she hugged her baby girl’s Spirit form tightly. Her tragically young Death’d ripped her heart out, and she’d felt like she hadn’t gotten any true closure for her loss.</p>
<p>    Feeling yet another presence made the group look back toward Richie’s bedroom door, and they were surprised to see a transparent woman standing in his doorway. Wearing a Serene smile, she looked pretty similar to the strange sisters, but she appeared to be closer to Georgine’s age. Either way, it was pretty obvious that she was just as dead as the baby girl Dylan was still hugging against her swollen breasts. The only other explanation was that Neptunians were advanced enough to use holograms or something since only Bobby knew about and truly understood the concept of Astral Projection. But no matter why she appeared transparent, it was equally obvious that this woman’d a purpose behind appearing here at the same Time or moments after the baby girl’d made her presence known.</p>
<p>    She addressed the strange young woman in the same strange tongue, which made more tears well up in her eyes as she shook her head. Acting as a translator, Morgana said that this woman was their mother, and that she’d come to act as an escort for her niece. The baby girl hadn’t been able to cross over immediately after her passing, ’cuz her sister’d felt too guilty to truly let go of her. Now, she’d come back to reassure her that she was okay and say her final goodbyes in the only way she could. Even though said sister still didn’t wanna let her go, it was Time to so the baby girl’s Spirit could rest and find Peace in whatever Afterlife she moved on to alongside her grandmother.</p>
<p>    “Hey, listen to me, Dylan,” Bobby said, moving to kneel between her knees so he could cup her cheeks.</p>
<p>    The strange young woman looked up at him, still holding on to her daughter’s Spirit as tears clung to her lashes and coursed down her cheeks.</p>
<p>    “Letting her go now ups the chances that she’ll be Reincarnated in the Future,” he told her.</p>
<p>    “R-Really?” Dylan queried with a sniffle.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmm hmm.”</em> The bassist nodded. “Even Spirits need to rest, if they’re ever gonna come back to us in a physical form.”</p>
<p>    “And if I don’t let her go, she can’t get that rest,” she mused, glancing down at the transparent lil girl.</p>
<p>    “Which means she’ll never get to come back to ya, whether it’s as a Future child of your own, a niece, or even something we call a Familiar,” Bobby said.</p>
<p>    “I don’t want her to be trapped, or Eternally tired,” the strange young woman whimpered.</p>
<p>    “I know it’s not easy to let her go,” he told her. “But remember what I said about how Pagans view Death.”</p>
<p>    “It’s not the End–it’s just the Beginning of a new chapter,” Dylan said.</p>
<p>    “Exactly, which means that even if she doesn’t get Reincarnated, your baby girl’s off to start her next adventure.” The bassist gave her a reassuring smile. “And if that’s what happens, she’ll be safe with your mom in the meantime and you’ll be reunited with her in Summerland one Day.”</p>
<p>    She heaved a heavy sigh as she looked back down at her baby girl, her next words in her Native tongue.</p>
<p>    Everybody watched as the lil girl’s ghostly face positively lit up, another infantile giggle bubbling up from her throat. She was quick to hug her mother’s neck again, then pull away so she could gently pat the dome that currently housed her baby sister. Almost as soon as her ghostly lil hand made contact, the baby within squirmed enough to be seen from the outside, as if greeting and otherwise Communicating with her.</p>
<p>    Once she was assured of her baby sister’s Health and safety, Neptunian 0704 gave her mother a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Dylan couldn’t help a somewhat sad smile as she Returned the gesture, then watched as she scooted down off the edge of the Love seat. With a gait that was just as wobbly as before, she toddled back over to her grandmother, who picked her up to snuggle her against her breasts. Both deceased females looked up at the Living, smiles of different kinds on their faces as they simply watched them for a few moments before the woman said something.</p>
<p>    Chuckling, Morgana told the guys she’d thanked them for watching over and helping her daughters so they weren’t alone in unfamiliar territory. She’d also posed a warning not to make her cross over again so she could make him rue the Day he was born to the one she could sense was her unborn granddaughter’s father. He’d done good with her daughter for having limited waysta provide for her, and she didn’t wanna see him deviate from that behavior in the Future.</p>
<p>    Nodding, Richie told the older of the sistersta let her know he’d just as soon let the rest of the guys, his brother, and his father annihilate him as turn his back on his daughter and her mother. With his message translated, the dead woman nodded and turned, a Portal opening directly behind her in front of the coffee bar. Everybody was amazed as they took in what looked like an idyllic lil Meadow, complete with a Pond that was fed by a small Waterfall and drained into a small, babbling Brook. Knowing this was the Afterlife they were going to made it easier for Dylan and Morgana to let them go and wave as they watched the woman step into the Portal. From the other side, they both Returned the wave as it closed, bringing an End to a very interesting Night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Fifteen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>While the intresting part of the Night was over for the group as a whole, Bobby didn’t quite consider it over for himself and his girlfriend. Having weighed his options in his mind, he’d finally come to his decision in regardsta potentially starting a family of his own. Seeing said girlfriend suffer yet another month once her period hit was outta the question for him, but there were only a couple waysta stop that from happening. Either she’d have to get a hysterectomy so she wouldn’t have to worry about conceiving or what’d happen if she didn’t, or he’d simply have to impregnate her.</p>
<p>    As they headed up to what’d normally be considered hers and Dylan’s room, he knew that impregnating Morgana was a risky choice. Sure, he’d more money than young Richie did, but his band was also touring for their one and only studio album. It’d be a while before he’d really be able to provide for a family, which meant he’d likely take on paying at least part of the rent on this apartment since he’d technically move in during his off-Time.</p>
<p>    Still, lacking the money he’d rather have before starting a family wasn’t much of a deterrent for the bassist when he thought about it. Neither was his previous desire to wait till he was older than a tender twenty-two or twenty-three before he took such a Life-Changing step. He didn’t wanna see his girlfriend in that kinda agony again, so not even his own mother saying he was nuts could stop him. It was for that very reason that he gently pushed her against her bedroom door once he’d closed and locked it behind them. Already grinding on her gently, he craned his neck so he could give her a heated his before his attention turned to seeking out and tormenting her most sensitive hot spots.</p>
<p>    Morgana sighed into the kiss, soft moans drifting up from the back of her throat as her body moved against his, but in rhythm with it. Unless she was already on her period or about to be, she pretty much never turned down even a Silent request to mate. She obviously hadn’t conceived in the Past since coming to Earth, but the pleasure derived from their romps was enough to Balance the pain for her. It was for that reason that she was soon to be surprised, considering how adamant her boyfriend had been about <em>preventing</em> conception.</p>
<p>    “Oh, Goddess–I can’t wait much longer,” he groaned, panting as they broke their most recent kiss.</p>
<p>    “Then what’re ya waiting for?” the strange woman giggled, equally breathless. “I’ve never turned down mating without a damn good reason before.”</p>
<p>    “I know ya haven’t, sweetheart,” Bobby chuckled, an uncharacteristically tender smile curving his lips as he cupped her cheek in one big hand.</p>
<p>    She couldn’t help a soft purr as she tilted her head into the touch, despite laying flat on her back now.</p>
<p>    “I’m just shoring up my nerve before I do something I wind up regretting,” the bassist finally admitted.</p>
<p>    “Whaddaya mean by that?” Morgana queried, her expression morphing into one that was a mixture of Curiosity and confusion.</p>
<p>    “Even though such things’re prolly better saved till one of the Spring Sabbats, I think there’s no better Time to at least try starting a family,” he answered.</p>
<p>    “Wait, ya mean…?” The strange woman’s jaw dropped open in a pink <em>O</em> of surprise.</p>
<p>    “I mean, it might not happen on the first try, and I’m fine with that,” Bobby told her. “But I’d rather not see ya in agony from your period again, if it actually works.”</p>
<p>    She couldn’t bite back a delighted laugh as she pulled him down for another kiss. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about such an attempt <em>not</em> working.”</p>
<p>    “And whyddaya say that, sweetheart?” the bassist asked, cocking a brow curiously from where he loomed over her.</p>
<p>    “I’m fairly certain that if I’m not already fertile as we speak, I <em>will</em> be by Morn,” Morgana told him with a grin.</p>
<p>    Not about to waste Time, if she was already fertile and honestly too horny to wait, he leaned down to give her yet another kiss. Even as he captured her lips with his, he readjusted himself so that his hips were nestled between her soft, beautiful thighs. His burgeoning tip already pressed against her insistently, and he didn’t bother trying to bite back an approving Sound as he reveled in how soaked she already was.</p>
<p>    Bobby was every bit as gentle about pushing into her as he’d been during their very first Time together on that Beach her first Night on Earth. He knew she wasn’t a virgin now any more than she’d been that very first Night they’d shared, but he still wanted to do this in what he considered the right way. Something about wild, crazy Monkey sex when actually <em>trying</em> to conceive a child just didn’t feel <em>right</em> to him, as it were. Maybe he was just getting more in touch with his inner female due to being both a Water sign <em>and</em> Water Witch, but he felt like there needed to be more tenderness in their coupling tonight.</p>
<p>    It seemed that his girlfriend was in complete agreement with that unspoken sentiment as she Returned the kiss he gave her as he hilted himself within her warm depths. There was a certain heat and Passion in that kiss as she fought his tongue for Dominance, but there was also a sense of gentleness not normally present. If he were to even try putting any kinda label on it, the bassist’d have to say this was what the Beginning of true lovemaking felt like.</p>
<p>    After giving both of them a few momentsta adjust, he readjusted his weight so he’d the best leverage possible. Morgana couldn’t bite back a moan that was crossed with a bit of a whine as his hips pulled away, leaving just his tip lodged within her. Her limbs tightened around him as if trying to pull him closer again, even as her head tipped back against her pillow to allow him better accessta her throat. That drew a soft chuckle from the depths of his chest, a gasp from her lips as he latched on to that column of tender flesh at the same Time he pushed back in to fill her again. Nothing felt better than his lips kissing and suckling, his teeth nipping and biting, his tongue Soothing those bites with gentle licks as he started a rhythm both knew would End only in their mutual pleasure.</p>
<p>    The gentle rhythm seemed to continue for hours, even though it prolly wasn’t more than half an hour, before Bobby felt her really start to tighten around him. Knowing what that meant, he managed to get one hand between them without hurting either of them, that hand swiftly moving South. Finding what he sought, he used his thumb to apply a gentle pressure while rubbing it in Circles around her sensitive lil nub. Combined with Changing his angle just enough to hit her sweet spot dead-on, he knew it wouldn’t take his girlfriend long to unravel and come undone. He was no more disappointed in that assumption than he normally was, as evidenced by feeling her steadily clamp down till it was painful for both of them.</p>
<p>    <em>“Yeeeeaaaah,</em> sweetheart,” the bassist growled as she finally erupted with a soft, strangled cry. “That’s it–sing for me.”</p>
<p>    <em>“Ohhhh,”</em> Morgana moaned, even her limbs clamping down on him.</p>
<p>    “Fuck, <em>yaaaassss,”</em> he groaned, his hips pressing tightly against her as he reached his own peak, set off by her steady, rhythmic pulsing.</p>
<p>    The strange woman simply mewled as she reveled in feeling his equally rhythmic throbbing within her.</p>
<p>    “I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything quite like that before,” Bobby panted as he collapsed over her.</p>
<p>    “Felt better than normal,” she agreed, gently rubbing his back.</p>
<p>    The bassist couldn’t help a shiver or bucking again with an aftershock, which earned her yet another spurt from him.</p>
<p>    “I’d be willing to bet it’s ’cuz we didn’t have so much as a rubber separating us for once,” Morgana giggled.</p>
<p>    “Maybe,” he agreed, unable to help squirming as that giggle made her flex around him. “And don’t laugh unless ya want another round already.”</p>
<p>    “That needy, huh?” the strange woman queried with an Impish grin.</p>
<p>    “Ya know I haven’t so much as looked at a groupie like that since we got together,” Bobby retorted, the smirk playing at his lips belying any annoyance.</p>
<p>    “Means more of your seed for me now,” she told him as she readjusted her limbs.</p>
<p>    “Maybe so, but I also need Energy to be able to give ya another round.” The bassist turned his head, barely biting back his yawn till he did.</p>
<p>    “Yeah, ya did wear yourself out with tonight’s Ritual,” Morgana agreed. She didn’t bother trying to stop him when he rolled to stretch out beside her once he’d softened enough to slip out.</p>
<p>    “Doesn’t mean this’ll be the only <em>Samhain</em> romp that rings in the Celtic New Year,” he chuckled sleepily. “Not that we really need it, if ya hit your fertile moment overnight.”</p>
<p>    “You’re sure about that?” the strange woman queried, biting her lip nervously as she rubbed her lower belly.</p>
<p>    “Takes a single sperm and egg to make a baby,” Bobby assured her. “So, if ya get pregnant from this round, any others’ll just be for the hell of it before I leave again.”</p>
<p>    “Can’t say I don’t like the sound of that,” she said, all but draping herself over his side once she’d rolled over to face him.</p>
<p>    A soft, sleepy hum was her reward as he wrapped an arm around her waist, his other arm already shoved up under his pillow. Morgana reached down with her own free arm to pull the covers up over their nude forms, making them at least somewhat decent on the off-chance that her sister used her Power to unlock the door. Well, that was assuming they didn’t start another romp, which’d make her use her own Power to render that of anyone else useless on it.</p>
<p>    Settling down so her head was tucked under his chin, she sighed as she used the leg she’d wrapped around the bassist’s waist to pull him closer. Even if it didn’t happen till sometime the next Day, with any Luck, their opting to forego the use of a rubber tonight’d result in a child. Then again, maybe it’d take another romp or two to achieve that particular result, which she could still live with happily enough.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Downstairs in the last bedroom, Richie found himself just as happily sated as the couple who’d disappeared upstairs almost as soon as the rest of the guys’d left. He hadn’t even had to ask for this romp, nor give any signs that he even wanted one before his own girlfriend was all over him. The fact that she was heavily pregnant didn’t seem to put her libido to bed, as it were–if anything, that seemed to ramp it up even more. If both his parents hadn’t told him that was perfectly normal during pregnancy, he’d have been worried, but he choseta count it as an unexpected Blessing.</p>
<p>    Letting out a content sigh of her own, Dylan snuggled as closeta her boyfriend as she could possibly manage in her current condition. Her swollen belly prevented her from snuggling as close as she once did, but that was a good thing, as far as she was concerned. If nothing else, her belly causing problems with cuddling in certain positions meant that their unborn daughter was growing like she should be. A growing, healthy infant was all she wanted after having her older daughter stolen from her at the equivalent of ten months old.</p>
<p>    <em>“Mmm?”</em> The teen cracked open an eye when he felt her caress his cheek.</p>
<p>    “Go on to sleep, if ya wanna,” she told him.</p>
<p>    “Ya look like you’ve something on your mind,” Richie said, pushing himself up slightly so he was propped up by their pillows.</p>
<p>    “It can wait till the morrow,” the strange young woman insisted, attempting to push him back down.</p>
<p>    “And I don’t care how tired I am–I’ll never get to sleep, ’cuz I’ll wind up wondering what’s on your mind all Night,” he told her.</p>
<p>    “Well, I’ve been thinking about what to name this lil girl,” Dylan admitted, moving her hand to her belly once she’d sat up more, herself.</p>
<p>    “Got any ideas?” he queried, letting her lean against his chest. “’Cuz I’ll admit that I haven’t really come up with anything I thought was good enough.”</p>
<p>    “She’d be known as Neptunian 0710, if we were on Neptune,” the strange young woman said. “Children’re more rare on my home Planet than you’d think, but tend to be born in batches, if that makes any sense.”</p>
<p>    “Kinda sounds like a Cat having a litter of kittens, just with multiple mothers,” Richie chuckled. “But I think you’ve figured out by now that she’s gonna need a human name here on Earth.”</p>
<p>    “Oh, I’ve definitely figured that out,” she agreed. “And I’ve at least a given name for her that I like.”</p>
<p>    The teen cocked a brow curiously as he looked down at her.</p>
<p>    “I like the name Rialta,” Dylan told him, unable to resist biting her lip nervously as she awaited his reaction.</p>
<p>    “Very Italian,” he said with another chuckle. “Which makes sense, given that she’s a quarter Italian from my side of the family.”</p>
<p>    She heaved a sigh of relief, glad he seemed to approve.</p>
<p>    “And it kinda fits the theme started by yours and Morgana’s names since it means <em>deep Brook,”</em> Richie continued. “Maybe it’s not Sea-themed, but there’s Water in Seas and Brooks alike.”</p>
<p>    “That’s kinda what I was thinking when that name caught my eye,” the strange young woman said. “After a metric fuck-ton of research on those bodies of Water, that is.”</p>
<p>    He let out another chuckle as he craned his neck enough to give her a kiss, one hand moving to join hers on her swollen belly. But even as he did that, he wasn’t surprised by Dylan saying that she also had a middle name in mind for their unborn daughter. Wanting to stick with the theme, she’d swiped Bobby’s Grimoire when he wasn’t looking and poured over the list of names he’d written in it. Even though it was credited as a Celtic name, <em>Aisling</em> stood out to her, ’cuz it was said to mean <em>Dream</em> or <em>Vision. </em></p>
<p>    The teen listened as she said Neptune was supposed to Lord over Dreams and one’s Intuition in addition to other things when it came to Astrology. Going by how the bassist’d explained it to her and her sister both, one could say that the Intuition and Visions went hand-in-hand with each other. After all, they both tended to reveal things one seemingly shouldn’t know, although Dreams could also do that in their own right.</p>
<p>    Richie hummed thoughtfully as he mulled it over, quickly deciding that it’d a much better ring to it than anything he’d come up with so far. He pointed out that on Earth, babies were typically given their father’s surname, even if their parents weren’t legally married. Normally, he’d push for exactly that, but as tumultuous as their relationship’d been thus far, he didn’t wanna push any buttons. It was for that reason that he was willing to give her both their surnames by hyphenating them, which’d make their daughter’s full name Rialta Aisling Neptune-Kotzen. Luckily, the strange young woman was quick to agree to that, and it seemed their daughter also agreed, judging by how she seemed to wiggle happily before settling down.</p>
<p>    Now that they’d officially picked out a name for her and both were so exhausted, they decided it was finally Time to get some sleep. The only thing that slowed them down was Dylan deciding that she was in need of a potty break, which he agreed was a good idea. He couldn’t help a laugh as she headed off to his bathroom, thankful his parents weren’t home since she was still nude. Once she’d Returned, the teen was quick to take his turn, his exhaustion from such a long Day and Night finally catching up with him. By the Time he got back to his bedroom and closed the door, his girlfriend was already asleep, and he was quick to join her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is what happens when ya already love everything Space, Stars, and Planets, and your Birth Creature turns on <em>Ancient Aliens</em> for background noise! LOL!<br/>~Firefly</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>